League Cup: Jürgen Klopp wins fifth title with Liverpool – 11:10 on penalties against Chelsea

In the final of the League Cup, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel relied on the services of Kai Havertz, among others, in the position of center forward at London’s Wembley Stadium. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner initially only had one place on the bench.

On the other side, Jürgen Klopp started Caoimhin Kelleher in goal for the Reds. Roberto Firmino was not in the squad, Diogo Jota was only on the bench. Thiago Alcántara was also injured during the warm-up, and the Spaniard was briefly replaced by Naby Keita.

The sonorous final game did not need any warm-up time, both teams played with open visors from the first second. Chelsea could have taken the lead in the sixth minute of the game: Havertz served César Azpilicueta, who put it across for Christian Pulisic again – Kelleher prevented the impact with a great reflex.

As the game progressed, a sometimes wild exchange of blows developed, with many dangerous counter-scenes on both sides. Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy made a world-class save against Mané (30′) before the Blues took charge again.

In the 42nd minute, Azpilicueta fired a shot from 18 meters just over the cross corner. Three minutes later, the Blues countered again and combined through Pulisic and Havertz into the Liverpool penalty area. The run-in Mason Mount put his bounce just wide of the far corner (45th).

After the restart, Mount had the next excellent opportunity, but he put the ball free in front of Kelleher but only the right post (49th). Chelsea captain Azpilicueta had to leave the field injured in the 57th minute. Reece James replaced him, making his comeback from injury.

After around 70 minutes of play, Jürgen Klopp was already jubilant when Joel Matip headed the ball into the goal after a cross from Mané. The joy was short-lived, however, as Virgil van Dijk was just offside when the goal was scored and had also pinned Trevoh Chalobah in the penalty area (67′).

Almost ten minutes later, the Londoners cheered, but this goal was conceded again. Substitute Timo Werner had played to Havertz in the center of the penalty area, who headed the ball into the goal. However, Werner was already offside during the formation (78th).

Before the end of regular time, both teams had further promising opportunities, but both Luis Díaz (85th), and van Dijk (90th + 1) as well as substitute Romelu Lukaku (90th + 5) failed because of the brilliantly presented goalkeepers Mendy and Kelleher. It went into overtime.

In the 98th minute, another ball wriggled in the net after Lukaku appeared alone in front of Kelleher and finished ice cold. However, an offside position was also declared in this situation.

Ten minutes before the end of extra time, it was Havertz who celebrated again, but the goal didn’t count for the fourth time – again offside (110′). Shortly before the end of extra time, Tuchel pulled his last change option from the bench and brought on substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for the hitherto flawless Mendy (119th).

After an exciting but goalless 120 minutes, the penalty shoot-out was a tough one.

In front of the Liverpool fan curve, the first 21 shooters all converted their penalties, mostly very confidently. Reds goalkeeper Kelleher also stayed cool from the point as the 21st shooter and overcame Kepa in the Blues goal. Then Kepa had to go himself, but put his shot well over the goal.

After this thriller, Liverpool was allowed to be celebrated as the League Cup winner for the ninth time.

The votes for the game:

Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea manager): “I make the decisions when I make them and I can’t undo them afterwards. We don’t know what would have happened if we had Edou (Edouard Mendy, editor’s note) would have left on the field. I give Kepa (Arrizabalaga, editor’s note) no guilt today. Of course we feel sorry for him. It was hard to see that he had to be the one to miss the only penalty. But it’s not his fault.”

Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool Manager): “Caoimhin Kelleher is a young man who has played in all competitions. So what am I doing today? I am both a coach and a human being and today the human has prevailed. He absolutely deserves it. I’m happy simply for the people who can celebrate our success today. Chelsea are unbelievably strong, we fought an equal duel.”

Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool FC): “I didn’t even think that I took the decisive penalty. I just forgot that it was my penalty that gave us the win. All the boys’ penalties were great. I’m just happy that I scored too. When I shot, I just hoped he would go in. I was involved in a lot of the shots myself, but to be honest, all the penalties today were very good. I’m grateful that we won.”

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool): “All of the penalties were taken very well today – except for the last one. I don’t understand the whistle that was whistled at me when we supposedly scored the opening goal. I told the referee that I was passive in the action myself. The ball flies over me and I don’t even try to go to the ball.”

The tweet about the game:

That was noticeable: A 0-0 of the entertaining kind

There are goalless draws in football that you can’t watch. There are no goal chances, no dangerous actions, the pace is completely missing. But in the league cup final, everyone really got their money’s worth. This game had everything that fans love about football. A goal shot ratio of 11:20, top-class chances for both sides, an “expected goals” ratio of 1.72 to 1.80. breathers? None! Both keepers thwarted several crystal-clear scoring chances on both sides. Thomas Tuchel and Jürgen Klopp exchanged tactical blows from the sidelines that will be talked about for a long time. In the end, Kepa was unlucky on an evening that really didn’t deserve a tragic figure.

The stats: 10

The ELF Cup is the tenth trophy for Jürgen Klopp in his successful career as a coach. He collected five trophies with Borussia Dortmund and five with Liverpool FC – after the Champions League, UEFA Supercup, FIFA Club World Cup and the English championship, now also the League Cup.