Liverpool pursues immortality

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This article was published 13/05/2022 (1548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You don’t just do a quad.

Oh, it’s been done. Sort of. When they became the first club in the world to win a continental treble, Pele’s Santos beat Eusebio’s Benfica to claim a fourth trophy in 1962. And Auckland City did it twice on the bounce in 2014 and 2015.

In 1993 Sao Paulo accomplished a quite unique version of it when they won the Copa Libertadores, Recopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup, and just three years ago Manchester City managed a clean sweep of English football’s major honours.

But, by it’s informal definition, a quadruple requires a league title, triumph in two national cups and a top-tier continental championship. With few associations even having more than one cup competition (France, for example, axed the Coupe de la Ligue in 2020), the chances of it happening at all become rarer and rarer.

Which is why Liverpool’s run-in to close the 2021-22 season is so extraordinary.

Victory in today’s FA Cup Final (10:45 a.m., Sportsnet One) would not only be their first in 16 years, and on the occasion of the tournament’s 150^th anniversary, but it would also deliver a second trophy of the campaign, adding to their EFL Cup success in February.

They edged Chelsea on penalties in that final, and it will once again be the Blues on the other side of the ball in front of nearly 90,000 fans at Wembley.

Where Liverpool are chasing history, Chelsea have spent the last few months trying desperately to not become history. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the British government compelled oligarch owner Roman Abramovich to give up ownership of the club, and for at least a brief period the Stamford Bridge outfit were in a rather precarious position.

Striker Timo Werner recently confirmed that, due to restrictions imposed on the club, costs were cut at hotels and the squad hired just a single bus instead of the usual two to transport them to and from away matches. And Chelsea were unable to purchase FA Cup Final tickets for their academy players and families.

Todd Boehly’s recent takeover has since steadied the ship, but because of ongoing drama in the dressing room — particularly involving Romelu Lukaku and Christian Pulisic — Chelsea still find themselves in rough waters ahead of kick-off. They’ll no doubt try to use the adversity as a sort of rallying cry, but a chip on the shoulder is unlikely to dislodge their opponents’ quadruple aspirations.

This is a match Liverpool should win, and after resting Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah midweek at Aston Villa they’ll have the added luxury deploying some key, refreshed players in their second final of the season.

Their second of three.

The third will be played at Saint-Denis later this month when they face Real Madrid for the right to hoist the European Cup. Madrid, incidentally, ended Manchester City’s hopes of securing a first league and Champions League double, and that was after Liverpool finished off their chances at a treble by dumping them out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage.

Salah hasn’t been secretive about his desire to take on Madrid in Paris. Three years ago in Kyiv he was substituted in the 25^th minute with a dislocated shoulder, courtesy of Sergio Ramos, and Madrid prevailed 3-1 en route to a third straight Champions League. His opportunity for retribution will come May 28, and by then the Reds will know if the quad remains a reality.

That will be up to City, who can exact some revenge of their own by all but clinching the Premier League on Sunday at West Ham. The reigning champions have been atop the table since a 3-1 win away to Watford in December, but what was once a 14-point lead has since dwindled to three.

Liverpool, meanwhile, haven’t lost in the English top flight this calendar year, although a 1-1 draw at home to Spurs last weekend left them needing their title rivals to drop points in at least one of their two remaining games—and ideally both.

That said, a loss today would see the quad go out the window. Such are the fine margins between immortality and mere excellence.

Still, that we’re even discussing a quadruple in mid-May is nothing short of remarkable.

Liverpool have absolutely sparkled this season. From Salah leading the division in goals and assists to the ascendancies of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Ibrahima Konate, and from Thiago’s re-establishment as an elite midfielder to the consistent dominance of young fullbacks Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, these last nine months are ones their supporters won’t soon forget?

But just how, and exactly what, will they remember?

Will it be the ecstasy of an unprecedented quadruple? Or the highlight of a lone league cup and dreams of what might have been?

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The picture will start to come together, or completely fall apart, today at Wembley.

Projected Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Keita, Henderson, Thiago; Salah, Mane, Jota.

Projected Chelsea XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; James, Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz; Lukaku.

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