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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

Jurgen Klopp may have won his most important trophy yet at Liverpool

Even for Jurgen Klopp, the manager of what must now be considered the best Liverpool side since at least the 1980s, this was the breaking of new ground at Wembley.

This competition started, unashamedly, as the lowest priority when the action got underway way back in September, and while this record-setting triumph now takes them one clear of Manchester City, the club's ninth League Cup may yet be remembered in the wider context of a far, far grander achievement.

Because while this is the first time that Klopp's Liverpool have been able to physically lift silverware in front of their own fans on domestic soil, this could simply be the one that gets the ball rolling on the most incredible period ever at Liverpool FC.

That is not a statement that is uttered lightly, either.

How good must it feel to know that all of this Wembley colour and cheer could merely be the glorious prelude to the most sensational conclusion of any season of any era at Anfield?

LIVE: Follow all the celebrations after Carabao Cup win in our live blog from Wembley

READ MORE: What Jurgen Klopp did before Kepa Arrizabalaga Chelsea penalty miss

PLAYER RATINGS: Caoimhin Kelleher the hero as Liverpool win the Carabao Cup

There's a lot of football to be played before that tantalising prospect is a reality, but the naked fact that a truly unprecedented quadruple is still in sight at the start of March will whet the appetite for what could genuinely be halcyon days, even at this most storied of football clubs.

Liverpool have never won the League Cup, FA Cup, the domestic title and European Cup in the same year, but having seen off Chelsea here at Wembley, that gigantic, almost laughably impossible task now stands in front of them, within the grasp of the best collection of footballers in decades on Merseyside.

Klopp, quite rightly, will not concern himself with those thoughts just yet, but there is no harm in fans taking the opposite approach.

The iconic Ronnie Moran was famous for keeping players' feet firmly on the ground whenever success greeted them and one suspects there are some within the modern Liverpool ranks - such as James Milner and Jordan Henderson - who could perform a passable impression of the legendary taskmaster

Supporters, however, do not have to be bound by that same mentality - they should dare to dream.

Optimism is one of the most precious commodities to be in possession of as a football fan and those who follow the Reds have industrial quantities of the stuff right now.

With the League Cup now safely on its way into the Anfield trophy room, complete with red ribbons, the attention now swiftly turns to the FA Cup, Champions League and even the Premier League.

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Klopp had spoken in the buildup this week about the need for this Liverpool team to bring home more silver before they are considered alongside some of the classic sides of yesteryear, echoing similar sentiments from Trent Alexander-Arnold when he spoke of an "expectation to win trophies" earlier this month.

“In 20 years if you want to talk about this team," Klopp said, "I would not be surprised if people would then say if we don’t win anything any more, they’ll say ‘yeah they were good, but they should have won more’.

“That’s why we should try now to win a few things."

Those words suggest that there is a determination within the squad to transition from a team who scaled the highest peaks only briefly to one that is widely respected as a dynasty.

This will do them absolutely no harm on that front then.

As expected, Caoimhin Kelleher started ahead of Alisson Becker as Henderson returned to the side as captain 10 years and a day since he last won this competition with the Reds.

Liverpool were dealt an 11th-hour team-news blow when Thiago Alcantara pulled up in the warm-up. Naby Keita was his replacement as Harvey Elliott shuffled onto the bench.

It was a cruel twist of fate for the Spaniard and his touchline tears revealed all about his disappointment as the two teams were kicking off.

Chelsea had a couple of big chances at either end of the first half with Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount but Liverpool's most glaring opportunity came when Edouard Mendy saved from Keita before somehow keeping out Sadio Mane while on the floor.

In Luis Diaz, the Reds had the game's outstanding performer, but there was nothing between the sides at the break, despite Klopp's men exerting the most pressure after the first 15 minutes or so.

Mount should really have put the Blues in front early in the second half but after going through one-v-one with Kelleher, his side-foot finish bounced off the post and to Liverpool safety.

Thiago Silva then cleared one off the line from Mohamed Salah before Liverpool were denied by the most wafer thin of offside calls on Virgil van Dijk after Joel Matip had headed home from about a yard out.

It was harsh in the extreme but they didn't let a sense of injustice rattle them as Klopp sent on Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and James Milner for Henderson, Mane and Keita.

Divock Origi and Ibrahima Konate later joined the fray as Klopp made full use of a squad everyone is now championing as the strongest for many, many years.

The Reds were not the only ones to be denied by marginal offsides, at least, with Chelsea netting three times through Romelu Lukaku and a Kai Havertz brace before seeing the various linesmen waving more checkered flags than the F1 circuit.

Extra time beckoned before it was decided that there would, in fact, be penalties to settle it.

The game's decisive move, as it happened, came in the final seconds of extra time as Kepa Arrizabalaga replaced the outstanding Mendy with both eyes firmly on the impending shootout.

CUP FINAL MAP: Show your support and tell us where you watched the win over Chelsea

The supposed penalty specialist failed to save any of the 11 before nearly blasting his own spot-kick over the Wembley arch to confirm Liverpool's name on the trophy.

Kepa's would be the kick that decided it all; Liverpool won on penalties 11-10.

Talk about a spectacular backfire.

After picking up the first winners' medals of the season here in the capital, Klopp has a potentially seminal couple of months ahead of him to ensure that his team is one that will never, ever be forgotten - not just in the annals of club history, but throughout English football at all levels.

However it ends now is anyone's guess, but it will be a fascinating, thrilling, utterly compelling watch over the next two months.

The quadruple-chasing Reds are one quarter into their mission; one trophy down, three to go.

They couldn't, could they?

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