(BY THE PRESS)
(London) The wait will have been long, thirty years including three months to wonder if the coronavirus was not going to spoil everything, but the Liverpool of Jürgen Klopp reigns again in English soccer, after the defeat (2-1) Thursday from Manchester City to Chelsea.
The Reds had done their part of the work on Wednesday, brilliantly and in the closed door of Anfield, crushing Crystal Palace (4-0).
With 86 points and 23 units ahead of Pep Guardiola’s men, seven days to go, Klopp’s team can finally breathe.
Manchester City-Liverpool in a week at the Etihad Stadium, for the 32e day, will look like handover between two teams that have been crushing the championship for two years.
We can always regret that the Reds are sacred without playing, without an audience and without any real prospect of sharing their happiness with the supporters. But “honestly, I don’t care,” Klopp replied in anticipation when asked if that would make him less happy.
This long-awaited epilogue erases three decades of frustration, punctuated by disillusionment in 2009, 2014 or even last year, when 97 points had not been enough against Citizens who had taken one more.
From the end of winter, the question was no longer if, but when the Liverpool of 2020 would join that of 1990, the last champion.
At the time, the Premier League had not yet been launched and the English championship was not this colossal financial power competition followed all over the world.
Earliest champion
The appearance of the new coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic it causes almost derailed Liverpool’s return to the top by abruptly stopping competition in March.
But by force of will and compromise, sometimes under the threat of gigantic financial losses, soccer has resumed its rights to arrive at a sports verdict which is only justice.
This year, the Reds crushed the Premier League with an unquenchable thirst for victory that allowed them to often break the toughest locks in the very last minutes.
Despite a plethora of stars – Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, or the trio Salah-Firmino-Mané, to name a few – it was their collective strength that impressed.
Several records fallen along the way bear witness to this undivided domination.
Liverpool are, after 31 days, the earliest champion in history, having taken 33 for Manchester United in 2001 and City in 2018.
This record is explained by a cannonball start: the Reds took 61 points out of 63 possible in the first 21 days, unheard of in the five major championships.
With 23 consecutive victories at home (current series), they also erased the Reds from the legendary Bill Shankly (21) from the shelves.
They were 25 points ahead of City at one point, the biggest gap ever between a leader and his runner-up.
Shadows on the board
And it’s not over !
They can still do better than the 100 points achieved by City in 2017-2018 and their final lead of 19 points on the second, at the time Manchester United.
Ending the season with 19 wins in 19 games at Anfield doesn’t seem impossible either, even if, after the visits of the relegated Aston Villa and the midfielder Burnley team, it would be necessary to take the best on Chelsea who will perhaps play be its place in the Champions League, during the 37e day.
This season, which also saw the Reds win their first Club World Cup in Qatar in December, will undoubtedly have a good place in their very rich history.
Some shadows remain on the board, however.
The elimination from the knockout stages in the Champions League, against Atlético Madrid (1-0, 3-2 after extra time), while they were defending champions, was a great disappointment.
To a lesser degree, the national cup runs interrupted in the eighth for the FA and in the quarter for the League Cup, even if the Reds aligned their reserve team (the first team was in Qatar), remain disappointing.
For comparison, City had achieved an unprecedented national treble last year, even if the Sky Blues are still chasing their first continental coronation.
But for the eternal dissatisfied that is Jürgen Klopp, no doubt that these small reserves will be as many sources of motivation to try to bring the Reds even higher next year.
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