Good question Brian, brought some great memories back for me sitting here
Chelsea 05 is probably the obvious answer, I wasnât initially meant to be going the game, I tried to get tickets of course but I wasnât a season ticket holder at the time, I didnât get a full one of my own - passed on through family truth be told - until 2010 (I know
) but my cousin was working away and was meant to be back the day of the game but his travel got delayed and once he knew there was no chance he rang me and said I could have his ticket I just had to pick it up from his maâs
That was unbelievable the atmosphere that night, genuinely the best Iâve experienced, nerve racking, exhilarating, joyous, relief, excitement.. every emotion you can feel at a game. And so f**king loud
Barca was good but to be honest it wasnât as good as Chelsea because the Chelsea game had everything, the game was in peril before it started, it was so tight and the tension as well as the noise was there from half hour before the game, as soon as the ground was filling right until the last few seconds when Gudjohnson missed the chance
Whereas the Barca game, I think to be honest that tension wasnât there, I dont think many of us thought we would turn it round before the game, it was more of a defiant f**k you, you arenât making mugs of us again, letâs win this leg and give them a bloody nose.
It went from that to party time and singing of course, but the peril and tension, the nerves and the noise of Chelsea wasnât the same
Two other Iâd give mention two also are the night we beat Real Madrid 4-0 in 2008-09. Now that was a special night and a great atmosphere, they said before the game Anfield so what?.... we showed them what, from the moment Nando scored early at the Anny road end in front of their fans and rubbed it in we dominated them and showed them what a Anfield was all about
What a week that was as well, we followed it up by stuffing the Mancs 4-1 at the toilet and then beat Villa 5-0 with a Stevie hat trick
Torres was at his peak at this point for me, he was unplayable
The other would Be Dortmund in the Europa league, maybe not for the full 90, but the let off and the noice at the end, and to be honest the start of the second half as well, it shook Dortmund
What do all those have in common? They were all famous European nights, and thatâs one of not the main reason I was so appalled by the SL being banded around because it was going to rob me and future generations of those nights, I know football has turned into a cash cow and finance is ruining the game but those night above you canât put a price on, and FSG tried to do that, they tried to sell our soul for money and thatâs whatâs annoyed so many fans
Iâd also give a mention to two more though
One being a fantastic atmosphere for me, an emotional one too
The League cup semi final in 2011 under Kenny against Man City.
It was an electric atmosphere to be honest, it had that tension, that let off, that emotion especially for people my age that Kenny was back and seeing him in tears on the pitch after the game
Putting City in their place it felt a bit that night as well
For me a special night
A strange funny one too, there have been loads of these over the years donât get me wrong, but there was a game in the run in of 13-14, Sunderland at home, we ended up winning 2-1 through a Stevie free kick and letâs be honest it wasnât a great atmosphere but itâs a strange one thatâs stuck with me of a game where you could cut the tension with a knife, we felt so close but also the tension I remember feeling even that âearlyâ in the run in I just had a feeling we were going to not get over the line, you could just feel this air of tension over the whole ground and the whole squad and it just felt like that was going to peak at some point and get too much for everyone involved, and it did. Not a great Anfield night but one that has stuck with me for the 8 or so years since it and one that Iâll be honest I wish I was in the ground when we finally won the league last year because thatâs one of those nights I would have I think been able to lay to rest having seen us eventually win it
Again thanks Brian, great little thread mate