How Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have the mark of champions

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 19: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates victory after the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield on January 19, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 19: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates victory after the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield on January 19, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images)

Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday was a performance to alter the tide of history.

Just after the final whistle went following Liverpool’s massive win in their final top six test of the season, manager Jürgen Klopp pumped his fist in front of Anfield’s famed Kop as belief washed over the red portion of Merseyside. It was a moment characteristic of champions as the Reds battle Manchester City in one of the most tightly-contested Premier League title races in over a decade, with Liverpool inching ever closer to ending their 29-year wait to become England’s champions once again.

Sunday’s win was so much more than a win at home for Liverpool against top opposition; in a sense, it represented a cleansing of the past, a renewal of hope. Five years ago nearly to the day, the scenario was nearly identical. Chelsea faced Liverpool at Anfield with the Reds duelling Manchester City for the title.

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On that day, legendary captain Steven Gerrard infamously slipped to hand Chelsea a victory that would represent the first step in one of the worst title collapses in league history. That day in April of 2014 represented the beginning of the end for Liverpool. April 14th, 2019, however, is just the beginning.

Jürgen Klopp has stressed throughout the season that this is not the Liverpool of old and that his new project, three and a half years in the making, can make Merseyside dream again. That 2013-14 Liverpool team, while playing exciting football with excellent players such as Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, and Luis Suárez, does not compare to the absolute machine Klopp has built.

The matches against Chelsea represented a fork in the road; while the 2014 team crumbled under the pressure of clinching a title, Klopp’s Liverpool has delivered with flying colours at every stage this season.

There are plenty of great teams, however, that have failed to win titles. It takes more than just 11 great players on the pitch to be champions, and a little bit of good fortune always comes into play. This Liverpool team have looked the “team of destiny” for much of the season with massive moments often going their way.

In a hotly-contested Merseyside Derby against Everton in December, with the score level at 0-0 in the 90th minute, a scuffed shot from star center back Virgil van Dijk inexplicably struck the top of the crossbar twice before falling to backup striker Divock Origi to easily head home the winner. Against title rivals Manchester City, winger Riyad Mahrez skied a 90th minute penalty that would have sealed a key victory for the Blues. More recently against Tottenham, Liverpool benefited from a disastrous own goal from Toby Alderweireld off an error from World Cup-winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in a win.

Even when Liverpool have played poorly, they have found ways to win. This characteristic is the earmark of champions, and as they head down the stretch of their final four games of the season, while they don’t completely control their own fate, they are in a remarkable position.

Theoretically, if City were to win each of their last five games they would clinch the title by a point, but with both Tottenham and a Manchester Derby left to play at Old Trafford, Liverpool’s dream may finally become a reality.

This season has been such a captivating race because of the dominance of the two teams involved. It seems extremely cruel that one of these sides could easily finish with 95 points and not win the title, but it speaks to the greatness of both City and Liverpool as they battle in such a captivating manner. Most seasons, one team clearly separates themselves as deserving winners, but this season, both teams’ merits warrant lifting the trophy.

For all of City’s excellence, however, there is just something special about this Liverpool team. They have been fighting valiantly as underdogs against one of England’s best-ever sides and matching them blow-for-blow. Just as the 2014 match against Chelsea represented the turning point towards heartbreak five years ago, Sunday’s win could be the beginning of a journey to end English football’s most staggering title drought for one of the sport’s most successful and iconic clubs.

This team looks the part of champions, from their scintillating on-pitch displays to their mental strength. Klopp’s vision of a new Liverpool, unafraid of the history and pressure of the past, has fans daring to dream of lifting the Premier League for the first time, and being crowned England’s champions for the first time in nearly three decades.