Alisson Becker has revealed the atmosphere at Anfield during the Champions League semi-final tie between Roma and Liverpool played a key role in him joining the Reds in 2018.

After starting in goal for the Giallorossi in the first leg, where his side lost 5-2, Alisson said the experience stayed with him, and it influenced his decision to choose a move to Merseyside ahead of a switch to Chelsea:

“I think that game [for Roma at Anfield] served as an experience of living a day at Anfield, seeing the crowd up close. That contributed to my choice for Liverpool. If you ask me what it was like to play at Anfield as an opponent I can sum it up for you in one word: horrible. Anfield is a spectacular stadium, when the crowd plays together it’s very noisy — and in that game they were ‘on fire’. I had a proposal from Chelsea too, but living that cheered me up a lot to play for Liverpool.

“Horrible” is probably the perfect word to describe Anfield on a European night, especially for the opposition. The raucous, deafening atmosphere makes it extremely difficult for players to keep their composure.

In contrast, as the home team, it can inspire Liverpool to go the extra mile, and it’s played a massive part in securing important results, most notably the 4-0 win over Barcelona in 2019.

Alisson will be hoping for more magical evenings under the lights of Anfield in the coming months and years, having committed his future to the Reds until 2027.