Did it really not touch the ground? Breaking down Thiago’s incredible floating goal for Liverpool
By
Caoimhe O'Neill 5h ago
42
Did it hit the ground or not?
It’s what anyone who saw
Thiago Alcantara’s stunning goal — one of the most aesthetically pleasing strikes Anfield will ever see — against Porto last night has been asking since.
Liverpool team-mate
Joel Matip put his head in his hands in shock, awe and joy after the ball nestled into the bottom right corner, impossibly, perfectly close to the post. The defender’s reaction was similar to those of thousands of Liverpool fans in attendance. The Porto players and their travelling supporters, who had been lively all game, were just as stunned.
Thiago ran to celebrate in front of the Kop and was swarmed by the rest of his team.
When asked about his rifling right-footer following the 2-0
Champions League win, his reply was a little more nonchalant than his celebration.
“It felt better to win the game,” the Spanish midfielder said, preferring instead to place the praise on his team rather than his own moment of wizardry.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp greeted Thiago with a hug when he was replaced by
Jordan Henderson in the 63rd minute. “It was an incredible goal,” the manager said in his post-match press conference. “I see that in training, I know he has the technique to do it but you don’t always hit a thunderbolt like that.”
“It is virtually impossible to hit it like that,” Michael Owen, who scored 158 times for Liverpool, said when watching it back via replay.
With every replay, Thiago’s strike gets better, but it also leaves you just as mystified by its beauty. And whether or not it did hit the ground or not on the way in.
We like going all-in here at
The Athletic so, for those of you who loved that goal, here is the full breakdown.
The goal arrived after a set piece taken by
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The free-kick delivery wasn’t on the money and was headed away by Porto’s defence. Thiago wasn’t even in frame on TV as the ball came bumbling out towards him but he soon made sure every camera in the stadium was panning after him.
The 30-year-old was Liverpool’s last line of defence ahead of goalkeeper
Alisson but sensed the opportunity to press forward as the ball was cleared.
Kostas Tsimikas and
Neco Williams chased back aiming to regain possession but felt Thiago’s presence running onto it. Williams in particular did well to get out of the way in time.
Thiago’s technique is next level but at the same time very natural.
He just hits the ball, really.
But hits it like not many players can or ever will. Leaning to his left, the ball bounces up at him at the last moment before he makes contact. He instinctively reads the trajectory of the ball and doesn’t blast it, preferring instead to cushion it gracefully towards the goal. The ball is spinning forwards and he forces it to orbit the other way, lacing it with backspin. He swipes downwards with his right foot getting just enough power, just enough everything.
The spin he puts on the ball lifts it back the way it came. It hisses along just above the grass, perhaps not even touching a blade of it again as it flies through Fabio Cardoso’s legs and towards the bottom right of Diogo Costa’s goal. The Porto goalkeeper stretches his arms out towards it but is never getting there as it drifts even closer to the post at the last second.
The Porto players, who had stood firm for the game’s first 51 minutes, were undone by the most perfect swish.
So did it
really float?
I suppose the answer is we won’t ever truly know but it’s best just to watch the video a few times from a few angles to help you make your mind up. It certainly looks like the ball rises up again just as it is about to hit the turf while whizzing under Cardoso. But it could of course be a trick of the camera or angle.
Either way, it doesn’t really matter. It was a beautiful goal, one that means this game will never be forgotten as just as Champions League dead rubber for Liverpool and one that was a wonderful reminder of just how incredible a technical player Thiago is.
Needless to say, it earned him a big hug from Klopp and every member of Liverpool’s backroom staff when he was replaced 11 minutes later.
Virgil van Dijk made a big fuss, as did
Harvey Elliott and others.
Everyone wanted to congratulate him on his genius.
Even the Moon poked out above the Anfield Road end to watch this otherworldly moment — the likes of which we will do well to bear witness to again.