In many ways his Cinderella story seemed destined to include an invitation to the ball of all balls.
Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson will become the first Scot to feature in a UEFA Champions League final since Paul Lambert won the illustrious competition with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.
Robertson was part of the Liverpool side who put Roma out of the competition at the semi-final stage last night following their 7-6 aggregate win over the Italians, their remarkable 13-goal thriller perhaps as unconventional as Robertson’s own rise to where he is now.
It has become trite to trot out the fact that the 24-year-old has made it to the top the hard way rather than through the pampered academy route, but at the same time it is impossible to applaud Robertson’s current vantage point without a look over his shoulder.
Midway through the opening period there was a point when Robertson embarked on what has become a trademark lung-bursting run all the way down the left flank, past Patrik Schick, past Alessandro Florenzi before cutting the ball back invitingly for Sadio Mane. A second goal for the striker at that point seemed to hang inevitably in the air before Roma keeper Alisson turned the shot behind for a corner.
The run itself, in the semi-final of the Champions League, the most celebrated tournament in club football was utterly fitting of the stage the Scotland internationalist finds himself on.
Not that he has got there by accident. We all know the narrative well enough by now - rejected by Celtic at under-15 level, Robertson’s route to the top came via Queen’s Park, Dundee United and a relegation fight with Hull – but its impact needs not dilute with repetition.
The trajectory of the last five years of his career might read like a Roy of the Rovers tale, rooted almost in a bygone era, but his performances for Liverpool this season has been every inch the modern fullback; aggressive, athletic, strong and industrious, Robertson has been the essence of how Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have played in the competition.
The first team to breach Roma’s backline in the tournament this season, Robertson was one of the chief tormentors as he flew up and down the flank all night, repeatedly making incursions with his final ball tantalising in the six-yard box.
Such was his nuisance value that as the game drew to a close he found himself facing the wrath of a furious Kostas Manolas who bolted near-on 80 yards to remonstrate with an unperturbed Robertson about his foul on Florenzi. The Scot went into the book for his challenge but he will have the chance now to write a significant chapter in his own story.
The 24-year-old finds himself looking at the possibility of not just flying the flag for his country but joining the elite ranks of the celebrated Scots who have enjoyed the heady experience of lifting the weighty Champions League trophy.
It eluded, cruelly, Darren Fletcher during his time at Manchester United with suspension ruling him out of one while he was unused on the bench for the other two. Lambert was the last of the relatively modern-day names to have enjoyed success in the tournament but the small band who have been there reads like a football who’s who; there are the Lisbon Lions, of course, and then there are the likes of Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, John Robertson, Steve Archibald, Alan Hansen and Pat Crerand among them. Little wonder then that Robertson could barely keep the smile off his face when interviewed in the immediate aftermath of the whistle blowing;”I had to take my time but I feel as if I am at home now,” said Robertson.
The much vaulted riches of Real Madrid will await now in the final of the competition as Robertson looks to complete his own rags to riches fairytale.
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