Liverpool have pulled off numerous stunning and unexpected victories at Anfield with Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' football. Matt Ladson looks at five of the best.
Anfield, they say, is a stadium like no other. According to Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti and Johan Cruyff to name a few of the non-Liverpudlian persuasion.
“I stood on the pitch at Anfield with goosebumps,” Cruyff once said. Guardiola admitted “there’s something about it that you will find in no other stadium in the world.” Even Ferguson feared the “really volatile atmosphere” only found at the home of Liverpool FC.
Need more evidence? How about Thierry Henry conceding that “there is nothing like playing at Liverpool”? Or Xavi being left “speechless” by the reception during Barcelona’s 3-1 win at Anfield in 2001? Or Etienne Capoue, who suffered a 2-0 defeat with Villarreal in 2022, claiming that “for 90 minutes, you live in hell”?
Jurgen Klopp is, unsurprisingly, an advocate of the power of Anfield. Perhaps the biggest. The Liverpool manager routinely calls upon the supporters to fuel his side, having successfully - and famously - turned those fans from doubters to believers in his early years in the dugout.
He has been proved right on countless occasions, though it would be wrong to overlook the performance of the players themselves in those famous Anfield wins he was enjoyed over the past seven-and-a-half years and counting.
Here are the five best victories Klopp has led Liverpool to at Anfield, including their most recent entry.
5. Liverpool 3-0 Man City - Champions League, 2018
For their first Champions League quarter-final in nine years, Liverpool were presented a major step up from the tests that came before them in the 2017/18 tournament, having previously overcome Sevilla, Spartak Moscow, Maribor and Porto.
Up against a Man City side surging to a first Premier League title under Pep Guardiola, the Reds were not considered huge favourites, but an unforgettable atmosphere at Anfield helped lay the foundations for a stunning display.
Liverpool rewarded the fans with a blistering start, as Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock in the 12th minute, before a stunning strike from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The game was tied up before the break, with Sadio Mane heading home Salah’s cross.
It was a performance that became synonymous with Klopp’s first truly dominant Liverpool side, and Anfield set the tone with a suffocating atmosphere that rendered the champions-elect impotent - with this momentum, the Reds made their way to the final in Kyiv.
This was truly 'heavy metal football' at it's best, roared on by a vociferous Anfield.
4. Liverpool 5-2 AS Roma - Champions League, 2018
The quarter-final thrashing of Man City was a statement, and Liverpool hammered that home when they met AS Roma in the next stage, with the first leg taking place at Anfield.
With Alisson between the sticks for the opposition, months before his £65 million switch to Merseyside, the Reds blew away the Serie A side with two goals in the first half and three more in 12 second-half minutes.
It was Salah, a player who had joined from Roma the previous summer, who masterminded the win with two goals and two assists, but it was an occasion inspired by the Anfield atmosphere.
Edin Dzeko and Diego Perotti gave Roma hope for the second leg with two late goals, but the damage was done as Liverpool all but booked their place in the final.
“These are magical games at Anfield we will never forget,” was Gini Wijnaldum’s assessment, echoing the thoughts of every fan watching in the stadium and around the world.
3. Liverpool 4-3 Dortmund - Europa League, 2016
Liverpool players celebrate for fans after beating Dortmund
In many ways, this win was the precursor for that which takes pole position in this list; a symbol of the never-say-die spirit that Klopp has fostered at Anfield.
Dortmund arrived on Merseyside having played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, and goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them 2-0 up within nine minutes of the decider.
Hope was rekindled when Divock Origi struck early into the second half, only for his goal to be cancelled out by one from Marco Reus soon after, looking to consign an emotional night for Klopp, against his former love, to misery. Liverpool needed three goals without conceding in the half hour left to play.
But with the manager rousing the supporters with a roar and a flail of the arms, Liverpool fought back - first through Philippe Coutinho, then Mamadou Sakho and, finally, a stoppage-time Dejan Lovren header that sent Anfield into raptures.
The terms ‘limbs’ was coined for scenes like those, as Lovren wheeled away in front of a jubilant Kop. A night that lives in folklore.
2. Liverpool 7-0 Man United - Premier League, 2023
Somehow, putting seven past their closest rivals for the biggest-ever scoreline in the history of the fixture does not top the list when it comes to Klopp’s greatest Anfield wins.
But it was a breathless, brutal evening nonetheless, and one that could have huge significance as the manager puts together his next generation at Liverpool.
Few, if any, would have predicted such a comprehensive victory when United made the trip to Merseyside, but fuelled by the power of Anfield, the Reds produced a stunning display that gave no concessions to a side comfortably above them in the table.
The sight of Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw all giving up on attempting to play the sport entirely, as Salah, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo all grabbed braces summed up Liverpool’s dominance.
A goal to kick off Roberto Firmino’s swan song made it all the better - a historic Anfield win for the ages, and one that could kickstart a new dawn under Klopp.
1. Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona - Champions League, 2019
There was really no other option for the top spot: the 4-0 comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals is a contender for Anfield’s greatest night ever - not just under Klopp.
With the odds stacked against them - with both Firmino and Salah unavailable and a 3-0 deficit to overturn - Liverpool pulled off the unthinkable.
Roared on by the Anfield crowd, the Reds took an early lead on the night through Origi, before the most inspired of substitutions saw a defiant Wijnaldum - irked by his omission from the starting lineup - brought on for two goals in three minutes.
A corner quickly taken midway through the second half wrapped it up; Liverpool had pulled off a miracle against a formidable Barcelona side.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were lifeless; Coutinho was hooked on the hour; Origi was the unlikely hero; Sergio Busquets hasn’t tweeted since; Liverpool went on to lift the European Cup for a sixth time.
Anfield. There’s something about it that you will find in no other stadium in the world.
