The video will start in 8 Cancel

Use your head like Sadio and subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The man who was once the world's most expensive goalkeeper was in a unique position at Anfield last night.

Because Alisson Becker had been there, seen it and done it before.

Liverpool's Brazilian keeper had been part of another team which had needed to overcome a three-goal deficit over Lionel Messi's Barcelona to progress in the Champions League.

But Roma 'only' needed a 3-0 win to progress from last season's quarter-finals.

And that night Alisson simply had to be solid.

Read all the reaction to Liverpool's epic victory over Barcelona HERE

Barca only mustered three shots on target all night in Rome. And Lionel Messi drove Barca's best chance of the night straight at the Brazilian.

Last night Barca peppered Alisson's goal with dangerous, threatening shots.

But Alisson was equal to them all. Undemonstrative, athletic and supremely, confidently effective.

Last season Liverpool's Champions League dreams were dashed by dodgy goalkeeping.

This season they have been kept alive by one.

The Reds wouldn't even have been facing Barcelona at Anfield but for Alisson's imperative one-footed save from Napoli's Milik in the group stages.

Last night he ensured their progress to Madrid.

"Winning against Barcelona when you are 3-0 down, when you have to score four and are not allowed to concede, is even more difficult, so we did not really think about it," said Jurgen Klopp.

"We just tried to build on the good performance in Barcelona and win the game step by step."

Step one was Divock Origi's early goal, but the manic mayhem that goal sparked would have been instantly doused if Alisson hadn't leaped to his right to tip Messi's rising drive over the Kop goal minutes later.

That was just the start of Alisson's inspirational performance.

Four minutes later he comfortably smothered Philippe Coutinho's only meaningful intervention of the evening, a low drive saved without fuss or fanfare, pushing the ball wide of Luis Suarez's predatory run.

But his biggest moment was still to come, advancing expertly and spreading himself like a human shield to deny Jordi Alba on the stroke of half-time.

Everyone knew that one single, solitary goal would have ended the tie in Barca's favour.

And that moment was huge.

In the second half Suarez was then denied by another Alisson stop.

And suddenly Liverpool were level on aggregate, the importance of that Suarez stop emphasised by Wijnaldum's double.

So far so good.

But then Messi was given a chance.

Lionel Messi. The greatest player on the planet, the man who had scored 112 Champions League goals in his celebrated career - the most recent only a week previously in the Nou Camp.

But the goalkeeper who has kept four Champions League clean sheets already this season was determined to keep his fifth and most crucial.

He foiled Messi. Five big saves. A fistful of decisive stops.

His display was maybe overshadowed because of the magnificent performances elsewhere, the heroism of Jordan Henderson, the goals from Divock Origi, the penetration of Sadio Mane, the excellence of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But his fellow member of the Anfield goalkeeper's union, Simon Mignolet, took note.

So, too, did Jurgen Klopp, the man who committed £65m on his signature.

"And the goalkeeper, Becker, who makes all these saves ....

"His biggest strength. There may be more spectacular goalkeepers out there but he is unbelievable. You always think ‘how is he there?’ What a performance. It’s just unbelievable. The only chances he has his body behind the ball. I don't know how he does it."

It hardly matters. He just does it.