The changing of the guard went almost unnoticed amid the thunderous din which greeted progress last night, though those who will shape this club's immediate future could not avoid being swept along by the raw ferocity of this occasion. Up in the directors' box, George Gillett and Tom Hicks sat entranced by the football phenomenon. Their first taste of a game in the flesh as owners of the "Liverpool Reds" could not have been more enthralling.
This was a momentous night in more ways than one. While Barcelona were dethroned, the hosts scrambling into the quarter-finals amid excruciating tension, power was symbolically changing hands in the boardroom. Gillett and Hicks had already purchased some 62.2 per cent of the club's shares and anticipate securing a 75 per cent stake by March 12th, with their financial commitment effectively to amount to £435 million. But, with the side not due to play here again until Arsenal visit on March 31st, this was David Moores' last match as chairman and, therefore, the end of an era.
Moores saw it as a fitting finale, a chance "to go out with a bang". He sat with the Americans, the other new directors Tommy Hicks Jnr and Foster Gillett at their side, with the group caught up in the occasion. As infuriating as it was blistering, this was a contest to savour. When Deco slid Eidur Gudjohnsen free with 15 minutes to play, the former Chelsea striker hauling the Catalans level on aggregate, it was agonising. The last few exchanges were unbearable.
Yet Gillett and Hicks lapped it up. The pair had emerged into the directors' box some 15 minutes before kick-off to be struck by the wall of noise already flung down by the Kop. They have spent 20 years accumulating sports clubs in North America, their portfolios having included the Harlem Globetrotters and Texas Rangers, though this was clearly a ground-breaking experience. Gillett stood dumbstruck during the bellowed pre-match rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone. The deafening war cry at kick-off had his partner beaming in disbelief as he took his seat.
The smiles were still there at the interval, the debutants warmed by Liverpool's riotous performance, even if frustration remained that the lead had not been gleaned. The hosts had conjured 10 shots by the time Barcelona mustered their first, a horribly awkward volley spooned over the bar by Ronaldinho. There was still enough to leave the pair spellbound by the atmosphere.
Moores, Liverpool's chairman of 16 years, was in a reflective mood: "The only regret is that we never won the Premiership under my chairmanship, but with the new owners I'm sure the club can win number 19 soon," he said.
"I told the Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, on Monday night that I couldn't have picked a better game with which to bow out. It doesn't get any bigger than this. Maybe it was meant to be this way," added Moores, who by the end could barely watch even if the new guard at his side remained transfixed. For Liverpool, nights like these in Europe are matter of course. Gillett and Hicks will have the taste for more.
