 HAIL magnificent Liverpool, hat-trick Champions of Europe. Over the hill and out of date were the taunts as Liverpool struggled under the burden of their biggest injury crisis in years. The pundits wrote them off a thousand times. Last night they left another critic, Real Madrid coach Vujadin Boskov to eat humble pie. "Too old" was the barb - "too good" the reply. Goal hero Alan Kennedy said afterwards: "I just can't take it all in. It's unbelievable. "I've been in this kind of situation so often before. The throw-in from Ray Kennedy left me in possession and I had a decision to make. "At other times, I might have passed it. But this time I thought why not have a go. I was frightened of miskicking it, but it went in like a rocket. "It seemed a hell of a long time for the ball to hit the back of the net. When it did I thought that's it, I've scored the goal that's won the European Cup final." Said skipper Phil Thompson: "I couldn't wait for the final whistle - but what a performance. Barney is always liable to do something out of the ordinary." Looking back on Liverpool's two previous European Cup triumphs - in 1977 and 1978 - Thompson said of this latest victory: "I think this team was the best team. "Just look at what we achieved to get here. First we had to beat Bayern Munich, themselves one of the greatest sides in Europe. And then Real Madrid in the final. You couldn't have made it more difficult than that." Thompson paid a special tribute to Liverpool's tremendous supporters - who provided such vital backing for this performance. "They behaved impeccably. To think they have come all this way and some of them have not even got a ticket. Tremendous." That view was echoed by Terry McDermott: "How can you lose with supporters like ours? We had to do it for the fans." | 
