It can have only been Luton, but Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool’s latest feat will go down in history within the dressing room.
The Reds got here back from a goal all the way down to steam past Luton 4-1, re-opening their Premier League title lead in difficult circumstances.
Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez were ruled out pre-match, making things even worse after the already terrible news that Diogo Jota shall be out for an prolonged period.
Despite the absentees, the alternative front three, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott, all got on the scoresheet after Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser.
Liverpool currently have ten first team injuries, probably the most of any top flight side, and it reminded Klopp of arguably his most famous game against Barcelona.
The Reds were 3-0 all the way down to Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez’s Barca in 2019, after which had their Premier League hopes all-but ended as Manchester City beat Leicester in a good match the night before.
If things couldn’t get any worse, pre-match injuries left Liverpool without Salah and Roberto Firmino for the return leg, but they astonishingly got here back to progress to the ultimate, which they won.
Drawing comparisons, Klopp told talkSPORT: “A number of months ago or years ago I promised the players I would not mention the Barcelona performance again.
“But every now and then… it’s just my favourite football game, and today I discussed it, about who was missing, how we scored.
“We could have said that night ‘he’s not here, he’s not here’ or you only play the sport and that’s what we did.
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“We began with a nasty pass off Joel Matip that Jordi Alba wants to go back, Sadio Mane smells the situation, Jordan Henderson out-dribbles the defender finishes it off and Divock Origi scores the goal, then the second goal a number eight within the box after losing the ball and winning it back…
“So it’s not about the way you often play, it’s what you do within the moment and I promised the boys that now I’ll mention Luton and never Barcelona.”
Asked how vital it was that his second-choice front line stepped up with the goals, Klopp said: “Probably very vital but I’m not likely bothered about who scored, I loved the entire game.”
With the primary half winding down and Liverpool struggling to get their passing game together, Klopp was seen turning around and yelling on the fans behind him.
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Explaining why he was bothered by the atmosphere, he said: “We had a few things that we needed to get used to with the opponent, and 1-0 down missing big probabilities in the primary half.
“You could possibly see that we were in a rush, on the pitch and off the pitch as well. I believed, ‘oh my god it’ll be difficult’ but at half time I used to be joyful we could calm the boys down, show them what was good, really calm the things down in the ultimate third and finish things off to our standard, technically.
“We had a extremely good likelihood to win this game within the second half but we were in a rush, which didn’t make sense, we were 1-0 down, there was no need for it. The second half was a correct whirlwind, that was top.
“The group needed to get used to the sport as well, you’re 1-0 down and also you don’t rating immediately and also you go [groans] you play a nasty pass, you see it and you possibly can hear it already, it’s not bad but just not helpful.
“The second half we gave the people way more to cheer they usually all blew us in the correct direction, what a performance that was.”
Luton manager Rob Edwards also praised the gang for his or her second half efforts, saying: “After a extremely good first half, within the second half we saw Anfield at full throttle, they suffocated us and their fans were amazing. It was just like the Kop was sucking it in.”
Liverpool have now collected 22 points from losing positions this season, probably the most of any team within the Premier League.
Asking what makes his team in a position to perform in those tougher moments, he explained: “It’s the players.
“How we understand it’s that we’ve got a football team who listens, who reacts, who learns during a game and is able to delete bad thoughts. That was crucial thing today.”
