Even the conjurer of many a comeback could not think of anything comparable. Jurgen Klopp cast his mind back over two decades in the dugout and said: “I think in my 1,000 games as a coach or a manager I never had a game like this.” Football, bloody hell – as another managerial great said after a 2-1 victory was sealed in injury time.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s most famous comeback came in Barcelona against Bayern Munich. Klopp had Barcelona on his mind, too, as he reflected on Liverpool’s extraordinary victory at Newcastle. “It was more difficult than Barcelona,” he said. Barcelona in 2019, a 4-0 hammering as Divock Origi upstaged Lionel Messi and co, without Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, may rank as both Liverpool and the Champions League’s finest fightback. But Newcastle, a game that threatened to show a shift in the balance of power between the clubs, where it looked like Liverpool were losing control and composure, could have provided problems at Anfield. Not at the final whistle, with Newcastle shellshocked and Liverpool celebrating. “Something for the ages,” said Trent Alexander-Arnold.
