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Published: 23:16, 21 Feb 2024Updated: 23:34, 21 Feb 2024
It may have only been Luton, but Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool’s latest feat will go down in history in the dressing room.
The Reds came back from a goal down to steam past Luton 4-1, re-opening their Premier League title lead in difficult circumstances.
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Liverpool had a tough first half but were absolutely flying in the second 45Credit: Getty
Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez were ruled out pre-match, making things even worse after the already terrible news that Diogo Jota will be out for an extended period.
Despite the absentees, the replacement 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, the most of any top flight side, and it reminded Klopp of arguably his most famous game against Barcelona.
The Reds were 3-0 down to Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez’s Barca in 2019, and then had their Premier League hopes all-but ended as Manchester City beat Leicester in a tight 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 came back to progress to the final, which they won.
Drawing comparisons, Klopp told talkSPORT: “A few months ago or years ago I promised the players I wouldn’t mention the Barcelona performance again.
“But from time to time… it’s just my favourite football game, and today I mentioned it, about who was missing, how we scored.
“We could have said that night ‘he’s not here, he’s not here’ or you just play the game and that’s what we did.
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Liverpool’s 4-3 comeback against Barcelona is part of footballing folkloreCredit: getty
“We started with a bad pass off Joel Matip that Jordi Alba wants to head 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 in the box after losing the ball and winning it back…
“So it’s not about how you usually play, it’s what you do in the moment and I promised the boys that now I’ll mention Luton and not Barcelona.”
Asked how important it was that his second-choice front line stepped up with the goals, Klopp said: “Probably very important but I’m not really bothered about who scored, I loved the whole game.”
With the first half winding down and Liverpool struggling to get their passing game together, Klopp was seen turning around and yelling at the fans behind him.
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Klopp turned and waves his arms at the crowd during a frustrating first halfCredit: PLP
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But at full-time he was a picture of pure joyCredit: Getty
Explaining why he was bothered by the atmosphere, he said: “We had a couple of things that we had to get used to with the opponent, and 1-0 down missing big chances in the first half.
“You could see that we were in a rush, on the pitch and off the pitch as well. I thought, ‘oh my god it will be difficult’ but at half time I was happy we could calm the boys down, show them what was good, really calm the things down in the final third and finish things off to our standard, technically.
“We had a really good chance to win this game in 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 proper whirlwind, that was top.
“The crowd needed to get used to the game as well, you’re 1-0 down and you don’t score immediately and you go [groans] you play a bad pass, you see it and you can hear it already, it’s not bad but just not helpful.
“The second half we gave the people much more to cheer and they all blew us in the right direction, what a performance that was.”
Luton manager Rob Edwards also praised the crowd for their second half efforts, saying: “After a really good first half, in the second half we saw Anfield at full throttle, they suffocated us and their fans were amazing. It was like the Kop was sucking it in.”
Liverpool have now collected 22 points from losing positions this season, the most of any team in the Premier League.
Asking what makes his team able to perform in those tougher moments, he explained: “It’s the players.
“How we understand it is that we have a football team who listens, who reacts, who learns during a game and is ready to delete bad thoughts. That was the most important thing today.”
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