The League Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool was a high-class, a massive game of football, on the pitch and in the stands. And clearly one that was of very great significance.
What initially ended 0-0, although it could well have ended 5-5, as Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp said, inevitably came down to a dramatic and curious punchline: the decisive miss by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa, who had come on as an extra-time substitute (11-10 in the penalty shoot-out for Liverpool).
This makes Klopp, not his opposite number Thomas Tuchel, the first German coach to win the English League Cup. He follows 31 Englishmen, 13 Scots, five Spaniards and other international colleagues who have led their teams to success in the competition, which has been held since 1960. Liverpool are again the record winners of this competition with nine successes, ahead of Manchester City. For the first time since 2015, no Manchester team prevailed – that time it was Chelsea. ManUnited had only managed to break their local rivals’ winning streak once in 2017.
Graeme Souness won the League Cup four times in a row as a Reds player from 1981 to 1984, and as a coach with Blackburn Rovers in 2002. He knows: “The League Cup creates a feelgood factor at the club and its environment. Players have a big ego and it’s nice to be able to service that by winning a trophy. It gives you the confidence to keep going up in the season. ”
Klopp wins a final at Wembley at his third attempt
At the same time, though, it’s not remotely a reason to rest for Liverpool, who are still in contention in the Championship, Champions League and FA Cup. In the Klopp era, the Reds’ record in domestic cup competitions has been rather poor. In 2016, they lost 3-1 on penalties to ManCity. Klopp, who was defeated by FC Bayern in the 2013 UEFA Cup final with Borussia Dortmund, won a final at Wembley for the first time at his third attempt.
Heralded as a “heavy metal” man in England in 2015, the German celebrated the fresh triumph with techno and hip-hop moves – in the middle tier of Wembley, where the Queen usually sits. His fifth title win with LFC was the first he had enjoyed in front of fans on English soil. The cheers from the 40,000 on his side were tremendous.
Many facets in the spectacular match and in the scenes around and after it showed: The small League Cup still counts for something, even if there is only a little more than 100,000 euros in prize money for the winner, while each individual victory in the Champions League group stage brings in over 2.5 million.
Klopp: “Kelleher is the best number 2 in the world “
Where there is often talk of team success, the Reds can claim a squad success symptomatic of this season. Klopp also highlighted that afterwards. Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, in whom he had placed his faith early on for the final, has been the standout among the squad players and talents who have been involved in the early rounds.
After several brilliant saves, the 23-year-old did not hold a shot in the shootout, but he safely converted his attempt, Liverpool’s eleventh. No wonder: The Irishman from Cork was active as a striker for many years in his youth. Now he has already won three penalty shootouts with Liverpool – more than any keeper before. In 17 appearances in total for the Reds, he has so far gone eight times without conceding a goal in the regular season. His regular goalkeeper Alisson is the best keeper in the world, Klopp said. “But Kelleher is the best number two in the world. ”
Tuchel is out of luck with his goalkeeping trick
On the other hand, Tuchel had no luck with his goalkeeping trick. Mendy had also made a strong save in regulation time, as he did in extra time, but then had to make way for Kepa. Behind Tuchel’s plan was the memory of Kepa’s decisive performances on penalties, such as in the European Supercup final against Villarreal. To accuse Tuchel of this as a serious mistake is going too far, even though Mendy recently saved the decisive penalty for Senegal (4:2 in the final of the Africa Cup against Egypt).
The initial criticism in England was probably based on memories of the penalty shoot-out in the 2021 European Championship final, when England coach Gareth Southgate substituted two extra shooters for the decision against Italy (2:3 in the final) and failed with this idea. Now here was Kepa in focus again, Kepa of all people, who had refused to leave the field before the penalty shootout against ManCity in 2019, despite coach Maurizio Sarri’s request.
In Tuchel’s team, a lively Kai Havertz was repeatedly involved in Chelsea’s dangerous actions, Antonio Rudiger impressed throughout the defence and especially in his work against Liverpool’s top scorer Mohamed Salah. Timo Werner could not set any game-changing accents after his substitution. The three German internationals also have bigger tasks waiting for them with Chelsea this season. This high-class final, which was played with such passion by all involved, underlined that winning the Henkelpot is possible again this season – on both sides.
