Liverpool legends were back in force at Anfield - but one man was conspicuous by his absence
Fernando Torres was the star attraction as he made a belated Liverpool Legends debut in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Ajax.
“I tried many times, I couldn’t do it. I did in the end and I was happy. I just wanted to score in my first Liverpool game after many years. I did it! "But for different reasons, I couldn't go. And now that I'm coaching, it's more difficult to find gaps in the calendar to be able to go. I could manage to go this time."
Gerrard is a Legends regular, of course, and has played for Liverpool’s veterans while in charge of both Rangers and Aston Villa. However, he sat out both 2022 editions of the game against Manchester United, with the Anfield leg in September coming at a time when the Villains were struggling in the Premier League table.
As a result, the bulk of Benitez’s ‘all-star squad’, that most memorably nearly won the Premier League in 2009, were in action against the Dutch giants on Saturday, including Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, Agger, Hyypia, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio, and Ryan Babel. Also through to the Europa League quarter-finals, it marked a remarkable turnaround considering Leverkusen were second from bottom in the table off the back of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Bayern when Alonso took over. But this year, he has taken it to a whole new level entirely with his side continuing to get the better of the Bavarians.
Any Anfield return on this occasion would have been accompanied by mass speculation. It was best for Alonso, Liverpool, and Leverkusen that, this time, the Spaniard stayed away. It was unnecessary, added attention that all of them would gladly do without. In such circumstances, it was inevitable that he was never going to line up at Anfield.
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