When we were banned from Europe...

[Maestro]

... we never got to play the great AC Milan team of that era. Imagine if this had been the European Cup Final in 1989:

Liverpool (manager Dalglish)
Grobbelaar, Ablett, Staunton (Venison), Nicol, Whelan,
Hansen, Beardsley, Aldridge (Ian Rush), Houghton, Barnes, McMahon.

AC Milan (trainer Sacchi)
G.Galli, Tassotti, Costacurta (F.Galli 74), Baresi, Maldini; Colombo,
Rijkaard, Ancelotti, Donadoni; Gullit (Virdis 60), Van Basten

The Liverpool team above is the one that played in the FA Cup Final on May 20th and the Milan team is the one that took the field for the European Cup Final on May 24th.

What a match that could have been!

Just a thought, is all - as we were discussing Sacchi on another thread...

[Don Quixote]

It may well be football's greatest mystery.

I reckon they were better though *oops*.

[Maestro]

I agree wholeheartedly...as things stood. But Dalglish's teams never had the luxury of playing in Europe, so - dare I say it - they could have been even better, and achieved even more!
It's a what if thread, so let's go hog wild on the hypothetical permutations!!

[rezaeos]

To a lesser extent this reminds me of the erly 1970's when Muhammad Ali was banned (1969-1974?).

[Dhav]

The hypothetical late 80's European Cup Liverpool v Milan match-up is one I have dreamt of many times. At the time we were probably the only team in Europe that could have given them a game, and I think both sides would have been evenly matched. Hard to pick a winner between those two. But it's a game that would have had you salivating, between two great attacking sides - we had the flair, they had the organisation and cutting edge. The makings of a great rivalry.

And to think, the blue****e think they would have won the European Cup against teams like that

[SouthAfricaRed]

It may well be football's greatest mystery.

I reckon they were better though *oops*.

They were also Better in 2005

[Los Rojos]

And to think, the blue****e think they would have won the European Cup against teams like that

I remember an interview on TV where John Bailey actually thought that they beat Rapid Vienna in 1985 to win the European Cup. :whatever:

[Maestro]

I remember an interview on TV where John Bailey actually thought that they beat Rapid Vienna in 1985 to win the European Cup. :whatever:

*******s!! The thought of the Bluenoses beating Rapid makes my skin crawl....

[andyinswinton]

I think that team in the late eighties would have destroyed any team in Europe at that time.

I still believe that it is one of the finest club sides there has ever been.

[Morse]

They were also Better in 2005

True.

[univofchicago]

I think that team in the late eighties would have destroyed any team in Europe at that time.

I don't agree with that statement.

The 1987/88 version would probably have gone on to win the European Cup (if they had participated that is). But I have serious doubts about whether 1988/89, 1989/90, 1990/91 would have done the same.

The problem with the post-1987/88 teams was that we had a threadbare defence. Once Lawrenson retired from injury and Spackman left, there was no adequate cover for Hansen, Gillespie, McMahon and Whelan. Hansen hardly featured at all in 1988/89 and was completely ruled out for the 1990/91 season. Gillespie was out for the majority of the 1988/89 and 1989/90 seasons. McMahon and Whelan missed half of the 1990/91 season with major injuries. Dalglish had no Plan B. If we had participated in Europe, the situation would have been worse with the amount of games we had to play.

And as we all know, the key to European success is a solid defence. We did not have that from 1988-1991.