Liverpool’s party is on hold as pandemic wreaks global havoc
Liverpool, Wednesday
As Liverpool approached their Champions League final with Tottenham last season, the streets and housing estates around Anfield began their preparations.
Banners and scarves hung from windows in readiness for a party. Not quite a year on, with a first Premier League title seeming within their grasp, things have not been allowed to get that far.
This, in theory, should have been Liverpool’s week.
A win in the Merseyside derby across the park at Goodison on Monday night - admittedly, not a given - was to have set Jurgen Klopp and his players up for a home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Another victory there and the title race, such as it has been, would have been over.
Instead, on Tuesday Anfield stood silent and solemn like a monument to a city’s distress and uncertainty.
As each day of the coronavirus pandemic passes with more sombre news than the one before, football furthers its retreat into the shadows of irrelevance.
Liverpool, of course, has long since had football and its importance in its proper place.
Other clubs and their supporters seem to understand that, too. At the Hillsborough memorial at the new Main Stand, there were scarves of other clubs, with one of their chief modern rivals, Manchester City, among them.
Earlier had come an announcement that this year, the 31st anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, could not be marked, as is usual, by a service and gathering at the stadium next month.
‘We wish to keep as many people safe as possible and we believe this is the right approach,’ said Margaret Aspinall, the chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
‘We hope to provide a rescheduled date for the service.’
A mile or so away, at Melwood, Liverpool’s training ground, that approach to safety is being mirrored. Klopp’s players - in common with many footballers across the country - have been told to stay away.
They are following tailored diet and exercise plans at home for the next two weeks, at least.
Normally, on any given weekday, Liverpool supporters gather at the gates waiting for players to come and go. It’s a rite of passage for many.
As a kid, current right back Trent Alexander-Arnold used to stand on a wheelie bin to see over the fence. On Tuesday, the big wooden gate was firmly closed. For how long remains to be seen.
In the city, the debate over what happens to Liverpool’s claims to their first league title in 30 years remains live. Sport may not feel like it matters much right now, but it still matters.
Klopp’s team have a moral claim to the trophy, that much is clear. They are so far ahead of City - 25 points - that even Pep Guardiola, the coach of the defending champions, has conceded that the deal is effectively done. -Dailymail
