Barnes and Goater on Wembley showdown

And it is not too long ago that Liverpool would normally kick off their cup campaigns after City had been knocked out – so great has the gap between the clubs been.

But the tables have turned as the two approach what is a deeply sentimental occasion for both sides.

For City, it represents the first leg of an unlikely treble which would be the perfect parting gift for Manuel Pellegrini who will make way for Pep Guardiola this summer.

In the other dugout stands Jurgen Klopp, attempting to win his first trophy in English football after replacing Brendan Rodgers in October.

The contrast between the two could hardly be more obvious even if they do share a healthy suspicion of the British media: Klopp’s patience has of course not had the time to wear quite so thin.

And the contrast between the clubs does not stop there.

The fans on the day will each have a club legend cheering them on: Liverpool will have John Barnes while Manchester City will have Shaun Goater.

Both are worshipped by season ticket holders and armchair fans alike but standing their records alongside each other tells you all you need to know.

Goater scored 84 goals across three different divisions and helped City into the Premier League with back-to-back promotion campaigns.

Barnes won two top-flight titles, two FA Cups, a League Cup and scored at the Maracana to beat Brazil.

And the pair watching the game will probably have two very different experiences.

“They’re playing for me as a fan now,” says Goater, who only ever reached Wembley as a Man City player when they played Gillingham in the Division Two play-off final.

“It’s very special for Manchester City to be making finals now.

“The players in the last few years have been winning finals and trophies and now they have a great opportunity to win another.

“They face great opposition in Liverpool but it’s still a chance.”

Barnes meanwhile was part of that Liverpool side that Goater could only have dreamed of playing in.

The fact that the 1995 League Cup final against Bolton does not live particularly long in Barnes’ memory is a testament to his success in a Liverpool shirt.

On the day Liverpool turned over Bolton of Divison One without much fuss.

“The favourites tag didn’t weigh heavy on us because we were confident in our ability,” Barnes says.

“You'd always rather be favourites because it means you’re in a better team.

“I remember it as the Steve McManaman cup final [he scored twice in a 2-1 win].

“I don’t think we played particularly well.

“Bolton made it hard for us but Steve pretty much single-handedly won the cup final for us.”

Goater’s Wembley experience was rather different.

The game was goalless until the 81st minute when Gillingham took a lead which they doubled six minutes later.

But Kevin Horlock got one back in the last minute of normal time.

“Normally you’re in the zone and you don’t necessarily notice the fans but I have to say at Wembley, there was that period in the game when City looked out of it,” Goater said.

“But then we scored a goal to get to equalise and then I think five minutes of added time went up and the crowd just lifted.

“People started coming back to their seats.

“Every ball that we controlled, that we passed or that we moved forward got this positive surge from the crowd.

“It was like they grabbed the ball and socked it into the goal.

“Certainly we heard them at that point because every touch, every tackle and every move got that extra bit of noise.

“It made such a difference.”

It must have done as Paul Dickov scored in the dying seconds to equalise and City went up on penalties.

Even the most excitable of fans on that day cannot have dreamed that less than 20 years later they’d be flying back from a Champions League Kiev to go to the cup final at Wembley before resuming their title race.

Of course, there is the small matter of Liverpool’s 4-1 win at the Etihad, one of the early triumphs of the Klopp era.

“I’m sure Man City won’t go into that game and underestimate Liverpool,” Barnes says.

“People may look at the Capital One Cup as the third trophy but it’s still a trophy.

“And I think it’s taken on added significance and the fans have shown that.

“When Arsene Wenger was under pressure because Arsenal hadn’t won a trophy, what he wouldn’t have given to win the Capital One Cup or indeed any trophy.

“Clubs are taking it much more seriously because the fans have made them take it seriously.”

And it is now the fans in red who will be desperate to disturb the gathering dust in their trophy cabinet.

One major trophy in ten years - the League Cup itself - is not what Liverpool fans are used to.

“It’s two attacking sides and two defences you can get at so I can see it being a high-scoring game or at least a very open one with lots of chances,” Barnes says.

“Of course the fans will have a big part to play because Jurgen Klopp has been talking about the Liverpool fans ever since he came.”

They are the words of a champion. One who knows success and failure and treats those two imposters just the same.
Goater meanwhile cannot shake the feeling of disappointment. 

The paranoia that haunts football fans that even when it’s all going well, disaster is just round the corner.

“Liverpool in recent games have started to put together some good results and wins and of course they dismantled us 4-1 at home,” Goater says.

“And we’re a little bit wounded having played Tottenham and lost a huge game in the league. This is where the doubt comes from.

“We certainly have to raise ourselves for this game and prove why we’re favourites to win the Capital One Cup.”

John Barnes and Shaun Goater alongside Capital One will be helping fans make ‘the difference’ at the Capital One Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, February 28

Source: Daily Express

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.