AN Anfield Ball Boy has been hailed as the real hero behind Liverpool’s incredible European comeback.
Trent Alexander-Arnold created Liverpool’s decisive goal in the 4-0 win over Barcelona last night with a genius piece of play.
He took a corner extremely quickly to catch out Barca’s sleeping defenders, allowing Divock Origi to score unchallenged.
However, it has now emerged that Alexander-Arnold was only able to take that quick corner thanks to the lightning reactions of a nearby ball boy.
As the original football went out of play for a Liverpool corner, the ball boy immediately threw a new one at Alexander-Arnold as he lined up at the flag.
Realising nobody had clocked the new ball which had been thrown by the youngster, Alexander-Arnold took a quick run-up and is sure to have thanked his lucky stars that Origi spun around in the nick of time to react instantly and fire the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The goal meant Liverpool went 4-0 up on the night, making it 4-3 on aggregate after losing 3-0 in the first leg at the Nou Camp.
And Jurgen Klopp’s men will now face either Spurs or Ajax in the final on June 1 at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano.
Fans were quick to sing the ball boy’s praises, with one saying: “Ran on the pitch at full time and gave the finger to Messi too. What a lad.”
Another wrote: “He deserves a free season ticket from Liverpool.”
LEGEND
One tweeted: “Ticket to the final then.”
Another added: “The kid is a legend, love it.”
Reflecting on his assist, Alexander-Arnold told BT Sport: “It was just instinctive.
“It was one of those moments where you see the opportunity.
“Divock was switched on and finished it off. It probably came at him a bit fast but he is a top player.
“He scored two goals for us tonight and everyone will remember this moment.”
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Origi added: “We did so well. We knew it was going to be a special night.
“We wanted to fight for the injured guys. It is hard to describe, it is just special.
“We fought so hard until the end. It shows our mix of talent and hard work.”
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