It's not every day that you beat Manchester United, but that is the reality that faces Liverpool supporters this morning.
Fans and pundits alike had gone into Sunday's contest with an air of trepidation, with the in-from Red Devils appearing to have the upper hand by virtue of their league position. But what transpired instead is an afternoon Liverpool supporters will remember for the rest of their lives as Jurgen Klopp's rejuvenated side ran riot in a second half avalanche of goals, that has injected new life into a faltering campaign.
Naturally, the national media has had plenty to say about the weekend's stand-out fixture. Here's a round-up of what they had to say as United are given seven strokes of the cane by Liverpool.
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BBC Sport - Phil McNulty
As reality checks go, the humiliation Liverpool handed out to Manchester United at a joyous and almost disbelieving Anfield was as brutal as it gets. The statistics speak for themselves.
Liverpool's 7-0 win was a monument to the return of all the qualities that have driven success under manager Jurgen Klopp. Those same statistics piled up like rubble at the feet of a Manchester United side that simply crumbled.
The biggest beating in the history of this famous fixture; the 7-0 scoreline equalling the heaviest defeat inflicted on United; Liverpool scoring six goals in a truly remarkable 45 minutes in front of the Kop. Joy for Liverpool. Pain for Manchester United.
United lost by the same margin to Blackburn Rovers in 1926, to Aston Villa in 1930 and to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931. None of those will be mentioned in the same breath as this truly remarkable game because of who inflicted it and where. This is why this win was celebrated so wildly by Liverpool's baying fans. This is why Manchester United will be so badly wounded.
This will be a day that will be remembered forever by everyone who witnessed it at Anfield - even those United supporters who will try to blank it from their memory but will find it impossible - and far beyond.
The Guardian - David Hynter
Manchester United’s humiliations at the hands of their biggest rivals were supposed to have been confined to last season. But on an afternoon when Liverpool relocated something that has seemed lost at times, sparking what they believe can be a successful push for a top-four Premier League finish, United were reacquainted with their worst nightmares.
This was even worse than the horrors of the previous campaign mainly because they had made the short journey to Anfield on a high, having lost only once in 22 matches, collecting the Carabao Cup in the process. The 5-0 and 4-0 drubbings against Liverpool last term had come when the team were on their knees, almost expecting something terrible.
This is a different United, reshaped by Erik ten Hag. Yet there was the Kop deliriously demanding six, which they got, and then seven. Ditto. The craziest of occasions finished with them asking, almost implausibly, for eight. That did not happen but, by then, United were broken, their second-half dereliction complete, and Anfield was crowing raucously.
It appeared ridiculous to say but United were comfortable until the 43rd minute. It was then that the outstanding Cody Gakpo scored the opening goal. Ten Hag had wanted to sign the Netherlands forward in January only for the player to choose Anfield. Ten Hag, who ended up with Wout Weghorst on loan from Burnley, did not want to be vindicated like this.
United’s second-half capitulation was total and shameful, the senior players going missing, everybody seemingly giving up. There was no pride, no fight, no tracking back, and Liverpool tore them apart. Despite it all, Jürgen Klopp’s team have generally been good at home this season and on Sunday, they were on another level. They were everything that United were not during a second period that will live forever in the hearts of their supporters – quick, committed and ruthless.
The Mail - Oliver Holt
There was a fear in Liverpool that the renaissance that has been taking place at Old Trafford this season marked more than just another of Manchester United’s false dawns. There was a fear that, after a decade in the doldrums, the wind was filling United’s sails again. There was a fear that after so many vanity signings and bad coaching hires, United were finally getting it right. There was a fear United were about to overtake them again.
Fear drove Liverpool as they went into this match. Fear, and the pent-up frustration of a season full of disappointments and defeats and doubts. And certainties replaced by uncertainties. Fear that the Jurgen Klopp era was over. Fear that all the glories of the last few years had come to an end and that others, including United, were lining up to grind them into the dirt.
And there was something else inside Liverpool last night. There was rage. There was rage against the dying of the light. Rage that they were being written off and disrespected. Rage that they were being called too old. Rage at the criticism directed at players who have won the Champions League and the Premier League in the last few years and who are not ready to shuffle away to the knacker’s yard quite yet.
And in 90 minutes of football last night, all that fear, all that rage, all that history between these two clubs, all their years of supplanting each other and mocking each other and loathing each other, came together and burst forth to produce the most astonishing and unexpected result in the history of the titanic clashes between the two most successful clubs in the English game.
This 7-0 demolition, this 7-0 humiliation, was the worst defeat United had ever suffered. They had lost 7-0 to Wolves in December 1931, 7-0 to Aston Villa in December 1930 and 7-0 to Blackburn Rovers in April 1926. But none of those defeats came against Liverpool. And losing 7-0 to Liverpool makes this worse. A lot worse.
The Independent - Miguel Delaney
A game that defied belief, as well as recent form, history and even explanation – and yet may have in some way still conformed to greater realities of the teams.
The bald facts beyond that sensational 7-0 scoreline are that Liverpool FC again claimed another huge home victory – and that’s saying something – as Manchester United once more failed to win a big away game.
There was of course so much more to it than that, as both went to levels that could scarcely have been imagined. It was really a result that couldn’t have even been thought of, and was at times difficult to make sense of, let alone keep count.
It was actually the first time in history there has ever been a seven-goal margin in the history of this fixture, setting a new record that trumps the first ever game between the sides at Anfield in 1895 by a goal. That was 7-1 to Liverpool. This could have been so much more. It was United's worst ever competitive defeat, and somehow much worse than what they suffered here last season. There was an almost an element of all those painful memories weighing onto the team, causing them to collapse even further.
The Anfield crowd still demanded more, telling the team they wanted eight.
They didn’t quite get that but they will have got so much more out of this landmark fixture. They may have a season again. They may have detonated United’s. That can be the effect of something like this.
The Telegraph - Chris Bascombe
Welcome to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool 2.0. The strike force awakens.
A new chapter begins with Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez assuming their status as emblems of the next generation, with Mohamed Salah reprising his role as the ultimate goal scoring weapon.
There have been many performances during the Klopp era of greater importance for title bids than this historic dismantling of Manchester United.
There have been many others worthy of exhibits in the club museum as they facilitated European glory.
But when the day comes for a retrospective on Klopp’s Liverpool career, it is doubtful there will be many so symbolic for a manager seeking to remedy the only glaring omission from his decorated CV.
Wherever he has coached, Klopp has always built one team capable of reaching its ceiling. He is yet to do it twice at the same club. That is the challenge he accepted when signing a new Liverpool contract 12 months ago, although the expectation then was he could evolve the team so casually and effectively the disturbance would be minimal.
Not so. This has been a turbulent campaign. Sadio Mane is long gone. Roberto Firmino is reduced to glorious cameos as he begins his farewell laps of appreciation. Luis Diaz is still injured. Diogo Jota has been on the hunt for match sharpness all season.
Salah remains reassuringly constant, now celebrating more Liverpool goals than anyone in the Premier League era. “A special player. A special boy. He should be really proud,” Klopp said.
Salah has earned many lavish descriptions during his decorated career; prolific, clinical, fiercely ambitious and record-breaking. Now add another. Leader.
If the burden of responsibility in Klopp's first legendary attacking trio was shared, Salah has carried most of it since last summer. Despite occasionally compromising positions, and often trying to contribute more assists, his goal potency has been unaffected.
We are now seeing Salah as a mentor to his young apprentices rather than a rival for top billing, Gakpo a particular beneficiary as Manchester United were submerged under the tidal wave of attacks towards the Kop throughout the second half. Gakpo moved to Anfield two months ago. On Sunday he truly became a Liverpool player.
