Date: April 23, 2017
The short journey from the hotel to Anfield was a study in contrasts as we had spent the night in Liverpool instead of taking a bus in the morning. Outside the tinted windows of the team bus, the streets of Liverpool were a blur of red. Red shirts, red scarves, red flags.
The air itself seemed to hum with a tribal energy, a city united in its devotion to its football club. Inside the bus, the silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
The players were plugged into their headphones, lost in their own worlds of music and mental preparation. The usual pre-game banter was absent, replaced by a tense, focused quiet. This wasn't just another game. This was Anfield.
