Think back to the last European semi-final at Anfield... No, it wasn't the incredible penalty shootout win over Chelsea in 2007, but it was actually the largely forgotten tie with Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final of 2010.
It was a very strange time for Liverpool. The club was a bit of a mess and Rafa was essentially running everything on his own. The team had been knocked out of the domestic cups and the Champions League in the group stage, but still they managed to find themselves one step away from a European final.
After losing 1-0 to Madrid, Alberto Aquilani stuck the ball past David De Gea (a very, very babyfaced David De Gea) in the Atleti goal to force extra-time. Yossi Benayoun put the reds out in front, but Diego Forlan rekindled his love of scoring at Anfield to send the Spaniards through to the final where they would eventually beat Fulham 2-1.
Fulham.
Almost as crazy as Fulham making a European final was Liverpool's bench for the semi's, which, with the power of hindsight, we can now laugh at.
The bench the last time #LFC played a European semi-final at Anfield: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Degen, Ayala, Pacheco, N'Gog, El Zhar.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) May 5, 2016
Just for the sake of curiosity, we took a look at what those lads are up to today:
Diego Cavalieri
Made only one competitive appearance for Liverpool before signing with Cesena in Italy where he played precisely zero times before returning to Brazil. He currently plays for Fluminense.
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
The big Greek madman was one of the more bizarre Benitez signings, and after briefly playing for Wolfsburg once he left Anfield, he ended up in Australia where he said the following after signing a two-game contract with Sydney Olympic FC:
It's a beautiful thing for me to come to Sydney and play football in Australia. I wanted to experience this opportunity and this opportunity was available for a handful of games and that's really it, that was the proposal from the club.
Not many people can say they played in both the Premier League, and the New South Wales State League.
Philipp Degen
One of the many right backs that were just shite compared to Steve Finnan, he went back to Basel after Liverpool and has played just 75 games in the last 5 years.
Daniel Ayala
Likely to be playing in the Premier League with Middlesbrough next season after finding his feet in the Championship.
David N'Gog
Bolton and Swansea fans wondered what the hell their club were doing when this chancer tried to extend his vacation in England, but he soon returned to France to play for Reims, who were forced to publicly deny that David had gone missing in 2014 after L'Equipe reported the club had no idea where he was.
Nabil El Zhar
Played for four years at Levante after leaving Liverpool before he terminated his contract in order to move to Las Palmas, where he remains today.
Daniel Pacheco
Currently at Alaves on loan from Real Betis, Dani Pachecho never found a "forever home" as he never quite lived up to the potential he showed in the Liverpool youth teams.
So there you have it. Liverpool signed some very weird players under Rafa, but that bench is as weird as it gets.
