Drunk Bellamy in Barcelona, Grobbelaar's wobbly knees in Rome and more: Liverpool's most outstanding away wins
Liverpool’s deadliest weapon across its history has not been a manager or a player. Instead, what teams fear the most about the Reds is their famous stadium, with Anfield being one of the most historic venues in the world. Numerous legends from Johan Cruyff to Arsene Wenger have handed high praise to Anfield, which is considered one of the scariest places to visit as an away team.
We’re all aware of Liverpool’s Anfield wins - the 4-0 comeback against Barcelona, the famous 4-3 win against Newcastle in 1996 and many more. Of course, football is not only played at one stadium. What happens when you take away the advantage of the home atmosphere and the comforts of the home pitch? The game doesn’t seem as easy then.
However, Liverpool boast of some memorable away wins too. Here, we have combined efforts with our partners at Hotels.com to list the most outstanding away wins in the history of the club.
5. 0-8 win vs Stoke City, November 2000
This list won’t be complete without the biggest away win any Liverpool side has ever achieved. Back in November 2000, the Gerard Houlier-led side travelled to Stoke-on-Trent for a Round of 16 tie in the League Cup.
There’s a famous saying in football which has become satirical over the years: “Can they do it on a windy night in Stoke?”. Liverpool proved that they very well can, as they ran Stoke City to the ground with a 0-8 away win on a cold Tuesday night (admittedly though, long before the saying caught on).
The win was so overwhelming the board controller lost count
The longest gap between two Liverpool goals was 20 minutes, as Vladimir Smicer scored in the 26th minute after Christian Ziege’s opening sixth-minute goal. The goals just kept coming after that, as Robbie Fowler had a hattrick of goals and assists in the match, continuing his hot form as the Reds’ talisman. “I warned people what might happen,” said Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson after the game.
It was a triumphant win for Liverpool, who went on to win the League Cup. It would be the first domestic cup win in a season where the Reds won the cup treble, something no English club had done before. To get their biggest away win on the way to this achievement was icing on the cake!
By the way, during one of those windy nights in Stoke, the captain of the Titanic was born there… But if you want your trip (not only to Stoke) to be more comfortable and convenient without recalling Celine Dion’s discography en route to the final destination, contact our good friends at Hotels.com for all things booking.
4. 0-5 win vs Everton, November 1982
The 1982-83 season is one of the most important campaigns in the history of the club, mainly because it was the last season Bob Paisley was in charge of Liverpool. A former player, club doctor, assistant manager and then the most successful head coach of the Reds, Paisley’s final season was a memorable one as he won his fifth league title in just nine seasons.
And the most memorable match of that campaign was Liverpool’s thrashing of their neighbours, Everton. The distance between Goodison Park and Anfield is just 0.9 miles but the gulf in quality between these two teams was immeasurable.
Ian Rush was already making a name for himself as one of English football’s most lethal strikers and if there were any doubters of his ability, the 21-year-old silenced them on that day. Liverpool’s number 9 opened the scoring and then went on to score again thrice, becoming the first (and to date, the only) player to score four goals in the Merseyside derby in the post-war era.
The game ended 0-5 in favour of the Reds - it remains Liverpool’s biggest and most memorable win at Goodison Park, a result that truly cemented the difference between the two sides.
Rush said of the game back in 2018: “I suppose it's not surprising that I preferred playing derbies at Goodison. It wasn't just because, being the home side, Everton were bound to come out and leave me a bit more room. It was also the fans. Although we'd only have maybe ten or fifteen thousand of ours at Goodison compared with maybe forty thousand at Anfield, they somehow seemed to make more noise!”
Liverpool ended up winning the league, collecting 18 more points than Everton, who finished seventh that season. The Guardian’s newspaper column on Rush and Liverpool’s exploits will possibly be stuck around a few houses in Merseyside even today:
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3. 0-5 win vs Manchester United, October 2021
Ali vs Frazier, Federer vs Nadal, Jordan vs LeBron - Liverpool vs Manchester United. A hero is said to be only as good as its main villain, and if we assume that to be the case, there is no rivalry in English football better than the Northwest derby.
To a neutral, this is the biggest fixture in English football. To a fan of either club, this game is war. It doesn’t matter how crap you are heading into the game or what’s at stake - a win is a must.
While Liverpool and Man United have played out some memorable matches over the years, from the Reds’ perspective, none stands out more than the recent thrashing of their dear rivals.
Liverpool were the heavy favourites heading into the game but no one could have predicted what went down. Naby Keita opened the scoring for Liverpool before Diogo Jota made it a two-goal lead in the 13th minute. The man in form, Mohamed Salah, added two more goals before the half-time whistle.
Home fans at Old Trafford booed their players as they went into the tunnel to collect their thoughts - perhaps a few of those 75,000 fans believed that things would get better in the second half. They were dead wrong.
Salah completed his hattrick five minutes into the second half and fans started heading towards the exit. The disgruntled and embarrassed face of Sir Alex Ferguson, next to the delighted expression of Sir Kenny Dalglish will go down in Liverpool folklore:
Paul Pogba was sent off in the 60th minute and Liverpool almost seemed to take mercy on their opponents, not trying too hard to score after that. The away fans sang “Ole’s at the wheel” as millions of United supporters across the world felt despair like they hadn’t in ages. Those United fans in the stadium who couldn’t take it any more, left the ground early.
Man United legend Gary Neville summed up the match: “This is a monstrous day for Manchester United. Losing 5-0 at home against Liverpool? I didn't think it would ever get as bad as that today. Today that was an absolute shocker, and the timing couldn't have been worse because it has been building now for a few weeks. As soon as they’ve played a proper team they’ve been obliterated, pulled to pieces, dismantled.”
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2. 1-2 win Vs Barcelona, February 2007
The two latest winners of the Champions League at the time faced off in the Round of 16 tie back in February 2007. Liverpool were a decent team at the time but Barcelona were arguably the most dominant side in Europe heading into the game. An emerging Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Xavi Hernandez and more - they were a side to be feared. Here is the starting XI for both sides:
Unbeaten for 13 matches in the competition at home, the Catalan club were the heavy favourites to beat a weaker Liverpool at the Camp Nou. They scored first through Deco, but the Reds came back to win 1-2, becoming the first English side to win two games at the Camp Nou.
What makes this win even more fascinating and historic is the events that took place prior to the match as the two goalscorers John Arne-Riise and Craig Bellamy almost came to blows on a night out before the game!
Bellamy was using a karaoke machine and called for Riise to sing. Riise writes in his autobiography: "Furious, I went over to him: 'I’m not singing. Shut the fuck up or else I’m gonna smash you!' He screamed back: 'I’m gonna fucking kill you, you ginger c**t!'"
When the team returned to the hotel, Bellamy, drunk out of his mind, entered Riise’s room carrying a golf club. He took a swing at his teammate: "'I don’t care if I go to jail! My kids have enough money for school and everything. I don’t care. I’ll fucking do you!,” Bellamy was screaming, as per Riise.
Bellamy was stopped by a couple of his teammates and the matter was closed the next morning. The Wales international scored the equaliser at Camp Nou and celebrated with a golf swing, acknowledging what had happened earlier on the trip.
Bellamy then assisted Riise for the winner, sealing a historic win as the Reds knocked the champions out and went on to reach their second final in three seasons.
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1. Penalty shootout win vs Roma, 1984 Champions League final
In 1984, the Reds reached their fourth European Cup final, having won the competition thrice before. Champions League finals are technically held at neutral venues but there was an exception in this case. This is because the venue was the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and the opponents for the day were AS Roma, who were in their first-ever final.
UEFA decided to continue with the venue even though Roma had the obvious advantage. Not only did the Reds have to play in the rival stadium, but they also faced a hostile atmosphere from the moment they stepped foot in the city.
Liverpool manager Joe Fagan was ‘parking the bus’ way before it was even a thing. The Reds took an early lead but the home team equalised just before the half-time whistle. The second half and extra time were a little devoid of much action, with Roma unable to break down a strong Liverpool midfield and defence.
Then came the penalty shootout. Liverpool were 3-2 up and Roma forward Francesco Graziani stepped up to place the ball, needing to score. It was then that goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar introduced the ‘wobbly knees’ idea to the world. As the name suggests, he was shaking his knees in a funny manner to distract Graziani.
The tactic seemed to work, as the Roma man felt the pressure and shot the ball well over the bar. Alan Kennedy then stepped up for the Reds and scored the decisive penalty, giving Liverpool their fourth European Cup.
To beat a strong and defensively solid Roma in their home stadium, the first time that had ever happened in European Cup history firmly cements this game as Liverpool’s most outstanding away win.
Grobbelaar said of the game in 2019: “When you walk out into a stadium like that, playing against the home team in a cup final, the noise was deafening – unbelievable. You couldn't hear yourself speak to the person next to you.
“When Graziani marching towards goal, needing to score to equalise. I went into the net and pulled it with my teeth. I thought: 'I'm in Rome, the national dish is spaghetti, so I'll do spaghetti legs.' I went right and the ball clipped the bar! The rest is history – Alan put the ball in the top-left corner when he was going for bottom right and that was it. Kennedy was jumping up and down, but we were all ecstatic – one of the most magical feelings you could ever feel in your life. We went out for dinner with our wives in a nice big villa overlooking the city. It was absolutely magical.”
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