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Alisson on family, his Champions League dream and writing his name into Liverpool legend

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Alisson on family, his Champions League dream and writing his name into Liverpool legend

“It’s no problem. I won’t get tired of it,” Alisson smiles as he settles into his seat in an Anfield suite, ready to talk to The Independent about that save — the one he has been warned he will still be asked questions about many years after his retirement.

But before discussing last December’s “miracolo,” showcased in all its majesty through a photo sequence in Corriere dello Sport, the goalkeeper recounts eleven other important stops against the same “very special” Napoli side that Liverpool play tonight.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will renew Champions League hostilities with Liverpool 50 weeks after Alisson thwarted Arkadiusz Milik in the 92nd minute to deny them passage into the knockout stages, as the Merseysiders motioned on towards a sixth European Cup.

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Nine months prior to that, however, the Brazil international had already proved problematic for Napoli in the colours of Roma at Stadio San Paolo.

“They are part of the story of my career,” he says. “In March 2018, Roma had an away game in Naples and it was an awesome one for me as I made eleven saves in a big defensive performance, which is really important against Napoli.

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“And then, here at Anfield, I think I put my name in the history of Liverpool with the save against them in a decisive match, an all-or-nothing moment, with our Champions League lives on the line. I put everything I had into that save and we put everything we had into that game.”

If Napoli owner and film producer extraordinaire, Aurelio De Laurentiis, was in total control of the script, the defining moment of Alisson’s club career would never have been screened.

He had crafted a compelling sales pitch for the keeper in the summer of 2018, only to watch Liverpool recruit him from Roma in a £65 million steal.

“Napoli tried to bid for me,” Alisson admits. “The president came to me, but if I went to Naples from Roma, I was going to put myself in a tough situation in Italy.

“It’s not an official derby, but there’s a big rivalry between the teams. I admire Napoli a lot, they have a top squad and it’s always hard to play against them, especially when they are at home.

“But I was committed to joining Liverpool.”

De Laurentiis was livid at not securing Alisson and went limp when the one that got away then took away Napoli’s seat at Europe’s top table last season.

So, back to that save. The “lifesaver” as Jürgen Klopp put it.

Liverpool were 1-0 up at Anfield, in touching distance of the non-negotiable win they required to progress in the competition, when Jose Callejon’s left-footed cross evaded their defence and arrived at the feet of Milik in the six-yard box with only the keeper to beat.

92 minutes. The pressure. What on earth is Alisson thinking? “If we concede now, there is no time to do a comeback, which we are specialists at,” he says. “This is it. Everything depends on this. I trained for that kind of moment all my life.

“I was ready. I got into the right position and then I was waiting for my defenders to clear the ball, but it was a difficult cross to keep out and then I saw the ball fall to Milik.

“I tried to close the angle as much as I could, make myself big and I forced him to stop and shoot quickly. I think if you ask forwards, they’ll say this is the hardest thing to deal with in that situation.

“Then the ball came straight to me, but that’s because I attacked it, I bought time, I made the situation complicated for him. If I had stayed in position, he would have had space and time to look and choose his spot.”

Alisson made such a multi-faceted process — one produced in pivotal milliseconds under stress — look simple.

Alisson is in his second season at Liverpool

It was a sensational save. And yet, in entirely unsurprising news, there were the usual naysayers on social media who argued that Milik had in fact done all the work for Alisson, by directing his shot so close to the goalkeeper.

“The people who said it’s an easy save, I think it’s a little bit of jealousy inside of that comment,” says Alisson, who was drilled to do the basics right and be smart not showy in his formative playing years at Internacional’s academy.

“What you work on and train towards always comes out in a game. You need to be focused, in the right place and make the right decision in a second. Sometimes you have to attack the ball, sometimes you cannot wait for the strikers. If you wait to react, it can be too late. I made a difficult situation look easy by doing the simple things, but they are the important things.”

Alisson, who was nicknamed the “Iceman” at Internacional for his calm, composed demeanour and ability to shrug off mistakes instantaneously, does however struggle in one department.

“To come to the stadium and not be involved – I can’t deal with that,” he reveals. “It is close to impossible for me.”

Alisson had to do that just once while recovering from a calf injury – the most serious setback of his career thus far – sustained on the opening day of the Premier League season.

“I just came to Anfield for the Champions League game against Red Bull Salzburg…”

Alisson rapidly shakes his head and balloons his cheeks as he recalls the experience of watching the dramatic 4-3 win over the Austrian side as a spectator.

“I couldn’t stand on my calf for long and didn’t to rest it properly so most times I would watch at home, but I was here for that game.

“I was going through all the emotions – nervous, happy, frustrated, anxious – that the supporters feel. I think sometimes they want to get on the pitch and kick the ball and make the save and I was like that – wanting to jump from the stand onto the field.

“I love football. I really love what I do. Going to watch without being able to play is like if you love chocolate and you want it and you have a nice box of Godiva in front of you, but you can’t touch it. It’s not an easy thing, but you have to deal with it.”

Alisson credits his deputy Adrian’s stellar form for affording him the chance to undertake proper rehabilitation.

“He helped Liverpool a lot with great performances, but me as well – there was no pressure on me to come back,” he says. “I could have a pre-season, which I didn’t get a chance to do because of the Copa America and it was five weeks of hard work.”

There was another upside too during his recovery. “I could spend time with my family, which is something that was sacrificed after the Champions League win and joining Brazil straight away.”

The Brazilian is already a Liverpool legend

Alisson’s wife, Natalia Loewe gave birth to their son, Matteo, a day before Brazil began their triumphant Copa America campaign. Having attended every Liverpool Champions League away game last season, she could not be in Madrid for the final as she prepared for the pregnancy.

One of the enduring scenes of that night was seeing her join the post-match celebrations on the pitch via FaceTime with their young daughter, Helena. Liverpool’s players and staff were pleased that Uefa’s emotive near 13-minute short film of the showpiece concluded with Alisson sprawled on the Estadio Metropolitano pitch, showing off his medal to his family on the phone while mayhem ensued around him.

“It will live with me,” Alisson says. “Every small thing, all the details around the game – the before, during and after.”

As he overlooks the Anfield pitch, there is another memory he will never be rid of.

“Barcelona. Here. Wow. The power of this place. How we believed and brought our brave plan to life.”

Alisson has also experienced the stadium as an opponent in a 5-2 defeat with Roma. “It was scary,” he recollects. “You play against a really good team and then the fans lift them even higher. I much prefer to be on Liverpool’s side here.”

He also achieved an illogical comeback against Lionel Messi and co while with the Serie A club. “When you achieve something once, you know it’s possible to do that again,” he explains.

“I knew it was a different situation and difficult club but we could do it.

“Barca were thinking about that game against Roma for sure and they were talking about it. Everyone from Barca was saying they had learnt from that experience and it will not happen again.

“I knew how important the defensive phase was – if you concede once, you’re pretty much dead in the mind. And when we scored the second goal, we believed that we could really make a miracle happen.

“I think in that moment, they were remembering that Roma game because when I looked at Messi and Luis Suarez, they had their heads down with their hands on their hair like they were feeling it’s coming again.”

Alisson was speaking to Melissa Reddy

Did Alisson foresee so many highlights in such a short space of time?

“I imagined it would be great, but not all so quickly,” he offers. “I came here in the right moment when the team were already in the middle of the right way. I got a good seat and have enjoyed the view.

“We want to keep it going. We’ve become part of Liverpool history, but that’s not enough, we want to give more to the club and the fans.

“We are fighting really hard for the Premier League and for the Champions League again. We know it’s very tough, but we want to do everything possible to achieve these goals.”

Alisson does not conceal that ceding the title to Manchester City by a point last season has swelled Liverpool’s desire to win it.

With the rivalry between the clubs so intense and unrelenting as they both jostle to be the preeminent power domestically and on the continent, tensions can overspill, as witnessed on England duty through Raheem Sterling’s aggressive confrontation with Joe Gomez.

How does Alisson guard against a similar showdown with City’s Brazil stars?

“For me, it’s really easy because when I’m off the pitch, I live life in just an ordinary way and anyone is a normal person to me.

“Of course, they are my friends from the national team, we have spent a lot of time together – Ederson, Gabriel, Fernandinho – and then also Fred from Manchester United, who I played with at Internacional.

“I don’t think about this rivalry other than when there is a game against them. On the pitch, I’m 100% involved in the need to win and I fight for my team. I will fight to make Liverpool even bigger.

“From my side, no. From what I know about them, no. I don’t believe the same could happen with us at Brazil.”

In 2013, Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach John Achterberg began assessing Alisson – then 20 and at Internacional – before speaking to his camp a year later to register interest in the Novo Hamburgo native. Work permit issues complicated matters, but the club continued building their dossier on a player they felt would be transformative.

“Someone told me in 2013 that there was from a coach from Liverpool looking at me, but I didn’t really believe him,” Alisson says. “Now it’s hard to take in all that has happened and to know there is still so much still to come here.”

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