The atmosphere that Liverpool fans create at their home stadium – Anfield, is known as one of the most legendary experiences a football enthusiast can have!
With the team’s history at Anfield beginning in 1892, Anfield is home to multiple generations of Liverpool fans. Every game at Anfield is kicked off by a lively performance of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
However, Napoli fans believe that all the talk and praise about Anfield’s atmosphere is nothing but a farce.
Twitter user Mohamed Salad, Sports Journalist from Somalia, uploaded a video showing the Liverpool fanbase staying almost entirely silent, while the Napoli-supporting stands mocked the atmosphere at the home team’s stadium.
Mohamed Salad captioned the video on Twitter saying, “Your famous ‘Anfield’ and ‘Kop End’. Silence. Don’t believe what you see on TV. It’s all cute scarves and one song at the start. Then they sit and cross their arms like good little kids.”
It is certainly odd to see the Kop stay silent during a home game. But then again, Liverpool fans offered sarcastic explanations on Twitter, commenting on Salad’s post saying, that Anfield only fires up for games against teams that really matter, or that the outcome of this match would have no real consequence since Liverpool and Napoli have already made it through to the Champions League Play-Offs.
That said, Napoli ended up suffering a 2-0 defeat with the home side finally converting two attempts into goals, extremely late in the 2nd half. The win did not come free of drama. Napoli managed to get across the goal line with a header off a freekick. However, relying on VAR, the referee disallowed the goal on grounds of Leo Ostigard breaching the offside line.
Mohamed Salah knocked some life into the Red’s attack in the 85th minute with a scoop of the ball into the keeper’s hand, who was, unfortunately, past the goal line.
Following the goal, the home side certainly notched things up with persistent attempts on target and ultimately a header by Van Dijk toward the goal and a knock-in by Darwin Nunez from the goal line.
It is also worth noting that the 2-0 defeat brings an end to Napoli’s unbeaten campaign this season in the Champions League. Liverpool, however, needed a 4-goal victory in order to shift to the top of their Champions League Group A table.
Has the Kop lost its vibrant supporters? Is Mohamed Salad’s video reflective of Anfield’s legendary atmosphere’s permanent demise?
Hopefully not. Anfield must persevere to bring back the intimidation that an away team’s fan base feels in it.