On a night of heroes for Liverpool, Divock Origi stood taller than all others

ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL — Liverpool – football club, manager, players, half a city and millions of supporters at home and abroad – woke on Tuesday morning hoping for a week of two miracles. One miracle down, one more to go. When you have overturned a three-goal lead against Barcelona, why would you render anything impossible?

The same city and people will wake on Wednesday morning as Ataturk 2005 became Anfield 2019. Some post-match celebrations involve leaps of ecstasy, but the best are a little less frantic. Many supporters stand almost still after initial cheers, as if attempting to comprehend what they have witnessed. Days will pass before this sensation sinks in.

There might be nobody in a Liverpool postal code who is quite as shocked as Divock Origi. David Fairclough was Liverpool’s famous emergency service in their heyday. Now this club has a new emergency service. It might just be beginning a new heyday too.

Forgotten man

On a night of heroes, Origi stands taller than all others because of the sheer farce of his presence. Let us spell it out: it is a minor miracle that Divock Origi is still a Liverpool player. Last August, the club made it clear that Origi was for sale, if any suitor wanted to stump up the £25m asking price.

The news of his potential departure hardly caused an outpouring of anger or shock. Origi had played nine Premier League minutes in the previous league season, loaned out to Wolfsburg where he had scored six times and generally become forgotten by Liverpool supporters.

In the end the suitors would not stump up the fee, and a season-long loan to Huddersfield Town also never materialised. That left Origi firmly pushed to the fringes of Liverpool’s first-team squad. He was the tin of rice pudding or jar of Thai curry paste at the back of the cupboard. You can’t remember quite why it’s still there or when you’ll use it, but there it remains.

Anfield rises as one

By late Tuesday, as Origi limped from the pitch minutes from the end, Anfield was singing his name as if he was Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah. They rose as one to salute a man who had done more than anyone thought possible in a scenario that was just as far-fetched.

Overturning large leads such as these usually rely upon certain established rules, and one of them is that your best players are available. Klopp did not enjoy that luxury. At various points of the two games, a list of players used in a front three by Liverpool includes Georginio Wijnaldum, Xherdan Shaqiri and Origi. One task for this summer is to add necessary squad depth.

But you deal with the hand you’re dealt. If Origi was the only option to lead Liverpool’s line, lead he would. The Belgian is nobody’s idea of centre forward perfection, but heart, energy and strong will can atone for the shortfall in quality. So can being in the right place at the right time. Against Everton, Newcastle and now Barcelona, he has proven his mastery of that trick.

That description of Origi as beneficiary of circumstance is a little uncharitable, though, because it overlooks his extraordinary fortitude to perform on such a stage with so little warning. It’s very easy to say that highly-paid professional footballers have a duty to make sure they are ready in case their manager needs them, but human nature can take over. It’s not easy when you don’t feel wanted.

But Origi is wanted now. Klopp will hug him until the air has been squeezed out. His teammates will hold him dear. His name will be sung on Sunday and sung in Madrid on 1 June. This miracle comeback didn’t need an extra layer of astonishing back story. Origi’s heroics ensured that it got one.