I’m a fan of Everton, the Liverpool football club’s city nemesis in top-flight English soccer. But even I can salute Liverpool today. Their win against Barcelona on Tuesday was extraordinary.

Entering Tuesday’s second leg semifinal game, Liverpool were 3-0 down on aggregate. Few observers seriously thought they could come back. Barcelona, after all, are commonly regarded as the world’s best soccer club. Led by the lethal Lionel Messi, Barcelona were expected to beat Liverpool without much sweat.