LIVERPOOL, England (AP) - When Liverpool was last making a charge at the Champions League title, its midfield had legitimate claims at being among the best in the world.
It was 2008 and Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano made up an engine room that had a bit of everything: Energy, vision, work rate, goals.
Fast forward a decade and Liverpool is back among Europe’s elite with a rather more unfashionable and functional central midfield that is proving to be just as effective.
Mohamed Salah naturally hogged the headlines after scoring two goals and setting up two others in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over Roma in the first leg of the semifinals on Tuesday. That made it 43 goals for the season for the Egypt winger, who has fast become the darling of Anfield and an icon back in his native country.
Yet Salah couldn’t operate so effectively, and with such freedom, without the tireless and unselfish work of Liverpool’s central-midfield three, which against Roma mainly comprised of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum.
That’s the same Henderson who is often castigated and held up as a poster boy for the England national team’s midfield woes in recent years. The same Milner who is now retired from England duty and has a parody Twitter account - “Boring James Milner” - named after him with 612,000 followers. The same Wijnaldum who was relegated from the Premier League with Newcastle two years ago.
This trio dominated the game against Roma, getting the better of Daniele De Rossi, Radja Nainggolan and Kevin Strootman - arguably more illustrious counterparts - and laying the platform for Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane to run amok further forward.
“We didn’t give any space away,” Klopp said, with a nod to his midfield. “We controlled the game in a very nice football way.”
That was often an accusation against Klopp, that his midfield couldn’t control games because the team was too gung-ho in attack, leaving Liverpool’s defense exposed.
This time last year, Philippe Coutinho was playing as a deep-lying central midfielder. The Brazil playmaker played lethal through-balls and scored some high-quality goals from long range, but didn’t have the discipline and awareness of a natural center midfielder.
Coutinho’s departure to Barcelona in January robbed Liverpool of one of world soccer’s most creative minds but has invariably helped to shore up Klopp’s midfield. The midfield now consists of three of Emre Can, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - all hard-working players who chip in with goals.
It’s no surprise that Liverpool’s defensive record has vastly improved as a result, especially with Virgil van Dijk a commanding presence at center back since joining for $99 million - a world-record fee for a defender - in January.
Milner, meanwhile, has emerged as something of a cult hero at Anfield - and an unlikely record-breaker in the Champions League.
When the 32-year-old Milner sent in a corner that was headed in by Firmino for Liverpool’s fifth goal against Roma, he became the first player to have nine assists in a single Champions League campaign.
That sums him up, really, a player content to leave the glory to others. Milner was appreciated at Manchester City for his selflessness and versatility but he has blossomed further since his 2015 move to Liverpool, where he now is an out-and-out central midfielder after filling in at left back for most of last season.
Henderson is fully fit and is developing into a leader, albeit a more unassuming and less dynamic one than previous captain Gerrard. Wijnaldum has a knack of scoring big goals at Anfield and rarely lets Liverpool down, as shown against Roma when he replaced the injured Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 18th minute and slotted straight into his role.
With Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana potentially out for the rest of the season and Can also injured, Klopp is short of midfield cover outside of Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum for Liverpool’s final three Premier League games and, potentially, two more games in the Champions League.
Keeping Salah, Mane and Firmino fit has always been Klopp’s priority this season. He’ll be wrapping his three remaining senior midfielders in cotton for the final month now, too.
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Steve Douglas is at www.twitter.com/sdouglas80
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