I’m sitting in my flat in Liverpool, scrolling through some old tweets on a rainy Tuesday evening in 2026, and a notification pops up – "On This Day: 9 years ago." I groan. I know exactly what it is. That night in Seville. Ugh. For a Reds supporter, time doesn’t heal all wounds. Some matches just get under your skin and squat there forever, like a bad tenant. And I’m not alone – even the great John Arne Riise still has PTSD from it. Trust me, I’ve got the receipts.

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Back in 2017, I was a fresh-faced uni student, buzzing for the Champions League group stage. When Liverpool strutted into half-time 3-0 up away to Sevilla, I was absolutely chuffed to bits. We could taste the knockout stages – what could possibly go right? Famous last words, innit? We were playing liquid football, total box-to-box madness. Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané had scored almost identical goals, and then Bobby did his nonchalant no-look finish that had me screaming “Take a bow, son!” from my sticky pub stool. Life was bloody brilliant.

Then the second half happened. Alberto Moreno – bless his heart – had the 15 minutes from hell. He conceded a cheap free-kick that allowed Wissam Ben Yedder to head home what I thought was merely a consolation goal. “No sweat,” I told my mate Dave, “just a blip.” But the Spaniards kicked on like a team possessed. Ben Yedder then stepped up to the penalty spot. Not once, but twice – after the ref ordered a retake, the cheeky sod converted both. The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán was rocking, and I felt the colour drain from my face faster than a pint of Guinness on St. Paddy’s.

We still had Mo Salah coming close, but Sevilla held onto the momentum like a dog with a bone. In the final minute, Guido Pizarro poked home the equaliser. 3-3. I just sat there, jaw on the floor, utterly gutted. It was like the 2005 Champions League final but in reverse – and that’s exactly how Twitter exploded that night. Ben Yedder himself even said it best, cheeky lad. But the finest demonstration of the emotional rollercoaster came from none other than John Arne Riise.

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The vocal Norwegian plied his trade on Merseyside for seven years and became a bona fide cult hero. You’d think being a hardened ex-pro, he’d keep his online presence in check during a rollercoaster clash – but oh no, not Riisey. Let me walk you through his updates from that night, which still live rent-free in my head:

Tweet 1: The Jubilation

“3-0 up at half-time away to Sevilla. Get in!!! #LFC #UCL”

Ah, the sweet, sweet hubris. Naturally, the internet has rinsed him for this upload ever since. But can you blame him? We were all feeling it. That excitement was pure, uncut Kopite joy.

Tweet 2: The Awkward Omen

“This game has goals in it. No shortage!”

Not even necessarily concerning Liverpool yet, but a rather awkward omen from the big man. Because yes, John, there really was no shortage of goals – just most of them went in the wrong net after the break.

Tweet 3: The Flight or Metaphor?

“Just caught a flight and missed the last 15 minutes… what happened??”

We’re still not sure whether Riise was literally catching a flight or this was some kind of metaphor, but he’d hit the nail on the head. Liverpool really were cruising, and in the space of a short-haul flight or a power nap, everything went south. You can understand his frustration – it was sharper than a Scouse wit.

Tweet 4: Speak of the Devil

Then one Chelsea fan decided to poke a little run at Riise for his first tweet of the night, referencing his infamous own goal against the Blues back in 2008. “Bit like your header in the CL semi, eh?” Ouch. It’s fair to say Riise got absolutely mugged off. He replied with a string of angry emojis, but the damage was done.

Tweet 5: The Perfect Conclusion

“Nightmares. Literal nightmares. #LFC”

And there it was. The perfect concluding tweet. No analysis, no sugar-coating – just raw, uncensored Kop agony. Riise went through every undulation the fans did that night, and it’s no wonder this man is so loved at Anfield. I’d trust him to man the official Liverpool Twitter account any day, even now in 2026.

Looking back this many years later, it’s almost hilarious how much that game foreshadowed the chaotic seasons to come. Liverpool have won the lot since then – Premier League, another Champions League, you name it – but that Sevilla implosion remains a benchmark for “typical Liverpool” bingo. Whenever we concede a sloppy goal these days, you’ll still hear blokes in the pub mutter “Here we go, Sevilla all over again.” It’s become shorthand for a collective trauma.

What makes the story even more bonkers in 2026 is that Wissam Ben Yedder is now a pundit on French telly, and every time he pops up, I get a cold shiver. I recently rewatched the highlights on a new holographic projector (yeah, the future is here!) and felt the same sick, sinking feeling right in the pit of my stomach. Some things never change. John Arne Riise, now a jolly commentator for Norwegian TV, still tweets about that night every anniversary, usually just a single word: “Nope.” And it gets thousands of likes, because we all get it.

So do I think Liverpool win any silverware this season? Well, in 2026 we’re still in the mix, but if that game taught me anything, it’s to never, ever unclench until the final whistle. Football, bloody hell. One minute you’re on top of the world, the next you’re the punchline of a cosmic joke. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. YNWA.