Nothing beats Liverpool hosting Manchester United at the great Anfield stadium

It is rare that both Liverpool and Manchester United are out of the top four in the Premier League when they meet, and neither can really afford to lose. It should make for a great game, writes Diego Forlan.

The Anfield stadium is like a box inside, with fans close, and hearing You’ll Never Walk Alone and seeing all the supporters waving their scarves and flags on the Kop is incredible, according to Diego Forlan. Alex Livesey / Getty Images
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I have played at football’s finest stadiums including the Bernabeu, San Siro, Camp Nou and Old Trafford.

They are among the best and the biggest, but when I’m asked about the great venues I’ve played in around the world, I also mention one of the smaller ones, Anfield.

I’ll never forget my first trip there in 2002. The coach taking the Manchester United team came off the motorway after the 40-minute trip from Manchester.

It’s a journey the players will make before Sunday’s Premier League game. Usually, we stayed in hotels close to the away grounds, but not before Liverpool, when we stayed in Manchester as it’s so close.

It’s probably not a great idea for Manchester United players to stay in Liverpool either.

Also from Diego Forlan:

When we arrived in Liverpool, we were met by police motorcycles and we were soon being escorted along grey streets with small terraced houses. I couldn’t believe that a world famous football ground would be surrounded by these little houses. I’d soon learn that there wasn’t one football ground there, but two.

Fans realised who we were and Liverpool’s fans weren’t exactly pleased to see us. Some made signals.

Of the United players, the Manchester boys like Gary Neville were the ones living the rivalry most.

Nev made it clear that Liverpool were our main rivals, that we had to win, that a draw wouldn’t be acceptable.

He was the one who got the most abuse from Liverpool fans, just like Jamie Carragher and Steve Gerrard – two scousers – got the same from United fans.

The rivalry was the biggest in England because Manchester City weren’t the team that they are now.

Chelsea and Arsenal would have great teams, but United and Liverpool were the two biggest clubs, the great red rivals from north-west England.

We passed Everton’s Goodison Park home and then saw Anfield. It reminded me of Independiente and Racing in Buenos Aires, two big neighbours side by side and wearing the same colours more or less.

I had heard of Liverpool as a kid in Uruguay and watched them on Channel 5. Players such as Ian Rush, John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish and, in later years, I remember Patrick Berger.

It was always exciting watching the Premier League games because you didn’t know what was going to happen, the games were less predictable than in other countries. It’s the same today.

We have a Liverpool FC here in Montevideo, too. They’re a small club in the first division, a good club with a solid reputation and a great pitch.

They took the name Liverpool in 1919 because there were links between the ports of Montevideo and Liverpool – where the coal came from by sea.

They wear blue and black, though. At the main market in Montevideo, there is a sign which shows the steel was made by a company from Liverpool.

As we got close to Anfield and crowds filled the streets, our coach turned through metal gates with You'll Never Walk Alone above them.

We disembarked to boos, then went into the small dressing rooms. On the way to the pitch, I saw Liverpool players try to touch the ‘This is Anfield’ sign. None of us did.

The stadium was like a box inside, with fans close. Hearing You'll Never Walk Alone and seeing all the supporters waving their scarves and flags on the Kop was incredible, but I was there to win a football match and not listen to the singing.

Of course the fans don’t like United players, but the Kop applauded our goalkeeper and I remember fans laughing when I went flying over an advertising hoarding.

It is a difficult ground to play at because the pitch is small and that restricts the space which forwards need. It feels even smaller because the stands are so close.

Another reason that I mention Anfield when people ask me about great football grounds is because I always did well there.

I scored two goals in my first game there as United beat Liverpool 2-1. People still ask me about that day and I still hear United fans singing about it when I watch the team on television.

I also started in the game a year later. I think Alex Ferguson wanted two more goals from me.

We did win 2-1 again, but this time with Ryan Giggs scoring two. He felt the rivalry because he was a Manchester boy, but he was quieter about it than Gary Neville.

I also went back to Anfield with Atletico Madrid and scored the goal which knocked them out of the 2010 Europa League and put us into the final.

After the game, the Liverpool fans in the main stand applauded me. That was a big gesture as I’d not only played for United, but I’d just ended their European dream in the semi-final.

United play at Anfield on Sunday and I’ll watch it again, one of the great games in world football in which I was fortunate to play.

They have both had problems this seasons and it’s rare that both of these clubs are out of the top four when they meet.

Neither can really afford to lose. It should make for a great game.

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