The End of the Jürgen Klopp Era at Liverpool, Part 3: European Memories
Everyone remembers corner taken quickly, but what other European memories made the cut as we look back at Jürgen Klopp’s nine years at Liverpool?
The End of the Jürgen Klopp Era
Part 3: European Memories
Liverpool’s success in Europe over the decades has always been part of what defines and sets the club apart from other top English sides, and Jürgen Klopp guiding the Reds to their sixth European Cup in the 2018-19 Champions League over Tottenham Hotspur ensured that whatever else happened in his time at the club he would have earned his place amongst the club’s all-time great managers.
Beyond the title-winning moment, though, there were plenty of European memories his side made for the fans in his nine years on Merseyside. Today, we continue our farewell to Klopp by reliving some of our favourite European moments from his time at the club.
Gabe
Of course that Barcelona match will be the one that sticks out the most. Books will be written about that incredible night, and I still get chills and tear up when I think about the YNWA after the match. I will say, however, that it was the dramatic comeback win over Klopp’s former side Borussia Dortmund in his first season at Liverpool that really set the stage for what was to come.
It had all the hallmarks we would come to find of Klopp’s sides going forward, aggressive attacking tactics and a never-say-die attitude that saw players giving their all despite the odds.
Jordan
As I’ve mentioned probably too many times at this point, I still consider myself a young fan of the club in that I didn’t start following the team until 2010. My European experience was filled with loss after loss, then, and embarrassment after embarrassment—when we even managed to make it to the Champions League, that is.
That first season back in Champions League with Klopp in charge two seasons on, though, after having lost the Europa League final against Sevilla, was the stuff of dreams. Making it all the way to a final, even one that we ultimately lost (again) is I think what truly sealed his position as the manager to take us back to where we needed to be as England’s historically most successful club. From not regularly in the Champions League to a final appearance proved he was the one who could inspire these players to these great heights, to their most incredible potential.
We barely got out of our group in that 2017-18 run. And then? And then the knockout stages happened. A 5-0 victory over Porto. Followed by 3-0 and 2-1 wins against Manchester City. Then 5-2 over Roma. That stretch made me believe in the Champions League, understand its weight and the magic of Anfield and truly believe that we belonged amongst the best in Europe. Because we finally had a manager who believed it too, and knew how to make it happen.
The celebrations that came later, in Europe and the league both, probably wouldn’t have happened if not for that run and those moments when the team grew and really learned how to fight.
Noel
To be honest, the final that saw Klopp snap his streak of losing at the final hurdle in Europe was a little bit anticlimactic. Sadio Mané’s cleverly earned penalty (and the fume it caused Spurs fans) set the table early and Divock Origi sealed it late and in-between, well, there was never really that much tension or doubt.
The moment everyone that will remember from that 2018-19 European run, then, is rather obviously—and rightly—the comeback against Barcelona and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s now infamous corner taken quickly.
With that said, what I will always remember from the final against Spurs in Madrid are the celebrations and the players hoisting an emotionally overwhelmed Klopp in the air. After the disappointment of the 2016 Europa League final (speaking of 2015-16, shout-out to Dejan Lovren and the Dortmund comeback) and the previous season’s Champions League final against Madrid (hate you forever, Sergio Ramos), the mix of joy and relief and excitement and exhaustion—just the pure catharsis of it all—was what I’ll remember most.
That and the subsequent celebration parade where Klopp, quite clearly having the time of his life and more than a few beers in, was sat perched on the edge of the double-decker bus counting off six European Cups on his fingers as everyone watched on, half loving it and half terrified he was about to tumble off the edge of said double-decker bus.
Dexian
For me, Liverpool’s dominant performance against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the 2018-19 Champions League represented something else. Something more. In the season prior, Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final had always felt like a team constantly exceeding all sorts of human limits. It was a run that never really felt like it should have been happening, yet somehow it did.
In Klopp’s second Champions League run, though, coming off a slightly disappointing 0-0 result against Bayern at Anfield, Liverpool went to Allianz Arena and didn’t simply outplay one of Europe’s best teams. They made it look easy.
Virgil van Dijk, calm as you like, with a delightful ball over the top to Sadio Mané, and then that finish. Mané’s duck and turn and slotting it home will be replayed for years to come, and he added a headed finish to seal the tie, with Van Dijk getting his goal with a thumping header in between.
This was Liverpool FC proving that the Cinderella run of the last season hadn’t actually been a fluke. This was Klopp and his boys loudly declaring themselves in the conversation for the best team in Europe. Statement delivered.
STEPH
Listen, anyone who wants to try and pretend like the 2018-19 campaign wasn’t the highlight is pulling a fast one. Funnily enough, though, the one match that wasn’t particularly memorable was the final itself. After the dramatic run-up of Bayern Munich and then Barcelona, corner taken quickly, fan favorite Origi on the double, etc, their 2-0 victory over Tottenham almost felt like a regular Premier League Saturday. Honestly, there’s something a little bit special about that though. Liverpool put in a legendary set of performances in the run-up that the actual final felt like nothing more than a pleasant victory lap.
AJ
It’s tough not to just name nabbing number six here given the iconic celebrations. On a personal level, after coming to the club during Roy Hodgson’s tenure, it was my first proper victory parade as a supporter and so it will always be special. It was also the last title before the pandemic and, with the league title parade ruled out due to that, the only one of the big two the fans got to properly celebrate with the players.
But it’s gotta be the comeback against Barcelona, right? Any other choice almost feels as though it’s trying a little too hard to avoid going with the obvious. Plus it was that comeback made the eventual celebrations possible and helped to cement this idea of a never-say-die attitude that for many is a hallmark of the Klopp-era and was obviously key to winning the club’s first Premier League title in three decades. It was a comeback that made Anfield the fortress people always talked about it being in the past, a place opponents fear coming to.
I was offsite working during the match, meaning I got to to see the whole thing live—which isn’t always the case for an American fan when it comes to the European matches. What a moment. Or many moments. Trent’s corner and Origi’s goal. But Gini WIjnaldum’s before then. And the celebrations at the final whistle. I’ve honestly gone back to watch it so many times since. Not just the highlights package, but the whole 90 minute game.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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