Cologne Coin Toss

Liverpool FC’s first season in Europe came in 1964/65 when Bill Shanky’s Champions played in the European Cup. In the quarter-finals the Reds met German opposition for the first time - 1.FC Köln.

The first leg was due to be played at Anfield, but with the stadium full and both sides having warmed up a blizzard made the snow-covered pitch unplayable and the Danish referee postponed the match, much to the annoyance of the visitors.

So the second leg in Cologne became the first leg and the Reds held the West German champions to a 0-0 draw with a resilient defensive display. When the sides reconvened at Anfield, 1.FC Köln returned the compliment and it again finished goalless.

With penalty shoot-outs yet to be invented a replay was needed on neutral territory and the two sides headed to Rotterdam. Ian St John and Roger Hunt put Liverpool FC 2-0 up, but Karl-Heinz Thielen and Johanns Löhr forced a 2-2 draw. Neither side scored in extra-time so after 300 minutes of football the tie was settled on the toss of a coin.

Reds captain Ron Yeats called tails, but when the Belgian referee tossed the coin it landed in a divot side up, so he had to throw it again! It was second time lucky for LFC - as the saying goes, tails never fails!

“We were coming off and who was standing there but Bill Shankly,” recalled Big Ron. “I was first off the pitch and he went: ‘Well done, big man. I am proud of you. What did you pick?’ I said: ‘I picked tails, boss’. I was waiting for the adulation, but he just went: ‘I would have picked tails myself’ and just walked away!”

Glad All Over

May 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of Liverpool FC’s first success in European competition and it came against German opposition. Bill Shankly’s Reds had already defeated Eintracht Frankfurt, Berliner FC Dynamo and SG Dynamo Dresden in the UEFA Cup before meeting Borussia Mönchengladbach in the two-legged final.

Anfield hosted the first leg, but with only 27 minutes on the clock a downpour made the pitch unplayable and the match was abandoned. It was rescheduled for the following evening and, having noted the West Germans looked vulnerable in the air, Shankly brought in towering Welsh striker John Toshack.

It proved to be a masterstroke as Toshack headers set up Kevin Keegan for two goals and centre-back Larry Lloyd headed home a third. Keegan also missed a penalty, but the other hero of the night was goalie Ray Clemence who saved a Jupp Heynckes penalty to deny BMG a precious away goal.

The value of that save was evident by half-time of the second leg at Bökelberg where two Heynckes goals had put Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 up amidst a raging thunderstorm. But Shankly told his players at half-time that BMG had used so much energy they wouldn’t be able to sustain their efforts in the second half and so it proved as Liverpool FC shut them out to win 3-2 on aggregate.

Captain Tommy Smith lifted the UEFA Cup and the Reds became the first English club to win the First Division and a European trophy during the same season.

When in Rome

After beating Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1973 UEFA Cup final, Liverpool FC faced the same opponents again in the 1977 European Cup final in Rome. It was the first time the Reds had reached the biggest match in club football and also the first time they had played in the Eternal City.

Liverpool FC had won the First Division title, beating Manchester City FC by a point, but four days before the travelling Kop flocked to the Italian capital in their thousands the Reds lost the FA Cup final 2-1 to Manchester United FC, ending Bob Paisley’s treble bid.

They faced a strong BMG side and the West Germans rattled the woodwork in the 22nd minute, but six minutes later Liverpool FC went ahead at the Stadio Olimpico when midfielder Terry McDermott netted.

Allan Simonsen equalised for Gladbach six minutes after the break and Ray Clemence made a fine save from Uli Stielike before Tommy Smith - playing in his 604th game for LFC - headed home a Steve Heighway corner for his first ever goal for Liverpool FC in the European Cup!

When Kevin Keegan, playing in his last match for the Reds, was brought down in the penalty area right-back Phil Neal stepped up to slot home an 82nd minute penalty and Liverpool FC were Champions of Europe for the first time.

Keegan’s Anfield Return

Winning the European Cup in 1977 meant that Liverpool FC qualified for the UEFA Super Cup for the first time. Back then, the European Champions faced the winners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup - a competition that no longer exists - and in 1977 that happened to be West Germany’s Hamburger SV.

Reds legend Kevin Keegan had quit Anfield for Hamburg that summer, a move that led to Kenny Dalglish arriving as his replacement, so there was much excitement about how the two no.7s would fare against each other.

Played on a home and away basis over two legs, the first match in Hamburger SV’s Volksparkstadion was a dull affair with neither Keegan or Dalglish shining and a David Fairclough header earning the Reds a 1-1 draw. The return game at Anfield was rather different.

HSV were hit for six as Phil Thompson opened the scoring and Terry McDermott struck the first hat-trick of his career, including two goals in two minutes. Fairclough headed the fifth and it was Dalglish who completed the rout as the Kop teased their returning hero with chants of ‘Keegan, Keegan, what’s the score?’

Ray of Light

From Camp Nou to the San Siro, Liverpool FC have enjoyed many-a-famous away win in European competition, but travelling Kopites of a certain vintage will tell you that the 1-1 draw with FC Bayern München in the second leg of the 1981 European Cup semi-final is right up there with our greatest results.

Bob Paisley’s men had drawn the first leg 0-0 at Anfield with a young Ian Rush brought in to make his European debut, but left-back Alan Kennedy fractured his wrist and when captain Phil Thompson suffered an injury ahead of the second leg the Reds had an injury crisis to deal with.

Colin Irwin and Richard Money came in at the back, but after just nine minutes in the Olympiastadion Kenny Dalglish was forced off through injury. Rookie Scouse striker Howard Gayle, who’d previously played just 21 minutes of first-team football five months prior, came on and Bayern struggled to deal with his pace so much that they took to repeatedly fouling him.

Gayle himself had to be substituted for Jimmy Case and despite forward David Johnson playing on with a hamstring injury, stand-in skipper Ray Kennedy shocked the West German champions by nonchalantly scoping Johnson’s pass into the net seven minutes from time.

FCB got an 87th minute equaliser, but the Reds went through to the final on away goals and a month later beat Real Madrid CF in Paris to lift a third European Cup.

SuperMon

“Half of my team were not born the last time Liverpool won this trophy,” said Reds boss Gérard Houllier after seeing his side lift the UEFA Super Cup in August 2001. “It means a lot.”

Houllier’s treble-winners had qualified for the showpiece occasion - by now a one-off match at AS Monaco’s Stade Louis II - as UEFA Cup winners with European Champions FC Bayern München favourites to add the silverware to their collection. But they ran into a Liverpool FC side which had England international trio Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard in top form and it was Owen who crossed for new signing John Arne Riise to open the scoring with his first goal for LFC.

When Heskey made it 2-0 a minute before half-time and Owen ran onto Jamie Carragher’s pass 13 seconds into the second half to add a third, FCB looked beaten. Although they got a couple of goals back to make for a nervy finish, the Redmen won their second UEFA Super Cup against German opposition.

Eight days later, Owen got a hat-trick and Gerrard and Heskey netted a goal apiece as England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Rafa in the Pub

The night before Liverpool FC’s UEFA Champions League last 16, second leg clash against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Germany in 2004/05, Reds boss Rafa Benítez was in nearby Cologne city centre with assistants Alex Miller and Pako Ayestarán. They were looking for somewhere to watch the Chelsea FC v FC Barcelona match.

Spotting it was on in an Irish bar called Jamesons they headed inside only to discover the place was packed with travelling Kopites, who had been singing Rafa’s name just moments earlier. Barely believing the LFC manager was having a drink with them, word quickly spread and by all accounts it turned into a memorable night with around 500 Reds turning up!

The following evening, Rafa’s Redmen - 3-1 up from the first leg - ended Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s long-standing unbeaten home record with another 3-1 success in the Bay Arena.

Luis Garcia scored twice in the space of five first-half minutes before Milan Baros added a third after the break with the hosts, who brought on future Red Andriy Voronin, getting a late consolation. Liverpool FC would go on to reach the final in Istanbul and win a fifth European Cup, adding to the legend of the night the travelling Kop went to the pub with Rafa Benítez in Cologne.

All You Need is Lov

In his first season as Liverpool FC manager, fate decided to pair Jürgen Klopp’s Reds with his former club Borussia Dortmund in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League quarter-final.

The first leg in the Westfalenstadion began with Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall singing an incredible rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone. Divock Origi opened the scoring, but a Mats Hummels equaliser set up a big second leg at Anfield where the pre-match singing of YNWA was truly spine-tingling with the chorus sung multiple times. On the pitch, the action was equally as epic.

Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang had BVB 2-0 up in nine minutes. Liverpool FC had no response until the 48th minute when Origi got a goal back, but then Marco Reus made it 3-1 to the visitors on the night.

For most teams that would be curtains, but when Philippe Coutinho made it 2-3 Anfield began to believe. With 12 minutes to play, Mamadou Sakho’s header levelled the tie - but Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund were still set to go through on away goals.

Then, in the 91st minute, James Milner and Daniel Sturridge worked a free-kick down the right that ended with Milner clipping a cross to the far post where Dejan Lovren rose highest to head the Reds 4-3 ahead, sending Anfield absolutely wild.

Trent Hoff to a Flyer

Jürgen Klopp has taken Liverpool FC to three UEFA Champions League finals and that run started in his homeland back in August 2017. The Reds had to negotiate a qualifying round to make the group stage and were paired with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - Bobby Firmino’s former club - who were managed by Julian Nagelsmann.

Just 12 minutes in the German side were awarded a penalty, but Simon Mignolet produced a brilliant save and Klopp’s men made the most of it when an 18-year-old right-back by the name of Trent Alexander-Arnold scored with a superb free-kick on his European debut.

“It is a thing of dreams to make your European debut for your boyhood club and mark it with a goal,” said Trent after the Reds went onto win 2-1 with a James Milner cross deflected in by Håvard Nordtveit for an own goal winner.

Liverpool FC played some sensational football in the second leg at Anfield to go 3-0 up in 21 minutes - Emre Can scoring twice - and so began a UEFA Champions League journey under Klopp that took the Reds to finals in Kyiv, Madrid and Paris in the space of five seasons.

When We Went The Allianz

Winning a UEFA Champions League is special and en-route to lifting a sixth European Cup in Madrid, Jürgen Klopp’s men played their first competitive fixture at FC Bayern München’s Allianz Arena. It was a night that has since been immortalised in song by Kopites.

‘We’ve been to PSG and Napoli, Belgrade and Germany, when we went the Allianz, Liverpool scored three. Porto, Barcelona, who yer tryna kid, we’re the mighty Liverpool, we won it in Madrid…we won it in Madrid’.

The first leg of the last 16 clash finished 0-0 at Anfield with FCB content to play for a draw knowing they had a formidable home record, but when Sadio Mané scored a brilliant opening goal at the Allianz Arena - sending goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for an Echo as he turned away from him before slotting home - it was Liverpool FC who assumed control.

A Joël Matip own goal put the hosts level before half-time, but the Redmen had more goals in them and a towering Virgil van Dijk header from a James Milner corner, followed by a Mané header from Mo Salah’s cross, gave Liverpool FC had a 3-1 victory.

Klopp later described the win as “a marker that LFC is back on the top level of European football” and he finished that 2018/19 season at the very top by watching captain Jordan Henderson lift the European Cup in Madrid.