From Stamford Bridge to Munich via Wembley, DOMINIC KING compiles the 10 most significant games of Jurgen Klopp’s nine-year reign at Liverpool

Compiling a list of Jurgen Klopp’s 10 best games would be easy and even if you were not a Liverpool fan, you could name them. 

But how about his most significant games? This is something a little different and the inclusions in this list, which runs chronologically, may surprise.

DOMINIC KING had a ringside seat for the journey Klopp took Liverpool on, going home and away for eight years and seeing the impact of results had on the evolution of the squad and the club. 

This is his personal take on the key events and turning points that brought the good times back to Anfield.

1 – Chelsea, away; October 31, 2015. Won 3-1 (Coutinho 2, Benteke)

Even now, nine years on, the incidents of this day are still easily recalled. Ramires put Chelsea in front early on, Klopp immediately got out of his seat and stood tall, taking the fight to Jose Mourinho and his staff out. It worked. This was him saying Liverpool would not be intimidated.

While Klopp bellowed at his players – James Milner got a particular earful – Mourinho combusted a spent his time squabbling with match officials. Chelsea melted, with Philippe Coutinho inspired. It was Klopp’s first Premier League win and he faced questions about the Champions League

He slid down a wall in the tunnel, all over the top and theatrically. He saw referee Mark Clattenburg leaving Stamford Bridge as the line of enquiry developed and shouted: ‘They are asking me about the top four!’ Clattenburg simply replied: ‘Welcome to England.’

2 – Borussia Dortmund, home; April 14, 2016. Won 4-3 (Origi, Coutinho, Sakho, Lovren)

The story of the comeback has been well told but its importance was the taste it gave everyone in the stadium for the good times, the nights that gave Liverpool its reputation.

Klopp had told his squad when arriving that he was a manager who wanted to be in the Champions League and he made his group buy in to what he was saying. 

James Milner and Daniel Sturridge combining to set up the winner for Dejan Lovren, straining to go the extra yard, embodied what he preached.

3 – Leicester City, home; September 10, 2016. Won 4-1 (Firmino 2, Mane, Lallana)

This was the day the Klopp era really launched. There had been a good pre-season in California, a lot of money had been spent on new arrivals and expectation was high. 

Then they played their three games away from home and took four points from nine.

What was going to happen when the champions arrived? A blitzkrieg, that’s what. With the new Main Stand opening for the first time, a different energy was zipping around the club. It was a statement win and Roberto Firmino, especially, was starting to blossom.

4 – Middlesbrough, home; May 21, 2017. Won 3-0 (Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Lallana)

Looking back, the task was straightforward: beat an already relegated side at home to finish fourth. The reality was something different. 

Liverpool simply had to win, not qualifying for the Champions League wasn’t an option. 

When Coutinho scored the crucial second goal, Mike Gordon, John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool’s expectant owners, looked to the heavens in delight and screamed their relief.

5 – Manchester City, home; January 14, 2018. Won 4-3 (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Firmino, Mane, Salah)

Klopp was no stranger to beating Manchester City at home but this was different. 

The nine minutes in the second half in which they went from 1-1 to 4-1 and Andy Robertson was pressing like an out of control express train lit a fuse. This told you a proper team was emerging.

They would face criticism in the coming months, they even lost the Champions League final in Kiev to Real Madrid. But that freezing cold afternoon was like they had unlocked two new levels on a PlayStation and their trajectory was climbing high.

6 – Bayern Munich, away; March 13, 2019. Won 3-1 (Mane 2, Van Dijk)

The best performance away in Europe by Liverpool in a generation. The compliment cannot be any higher. 

Having drawn 0-0 in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League clash, the assumption was that Bayern would breeze past them.

What Bayern got was the shock of their lives. They couldn’t get near Liverpool, couldn’t cope with their skill or their aggression or their finishing prowess. Klopp’s affection for this performance – given who it was against – is immense.

7 – Barcelona, home; May 7, 2019. Won 4-0 (Origi 2, Wijnaldum 2)

You know what happened, you about Anfield’s greatest night. The aspects that will live with this observer forever more are the interview he gave, away from the cameras, in his pre-match press conference. Listening to him, you immediately knew Klopp felt 3-0 wasn’t a terminal scoreline.

Then there was the aftermath of the game. Perching by the tunnel with a laptop on my knee, trying to meet deadline, Klopp started walking towards me. Instinctively, he gave a high five. 

Forget what happened in Madrid on June 1. This, effectively, was when Liverpool won their sixth European Cup.

8 – Burnley, away; August 31, 2019. Won 3-0 (Wood o.g, Mane, Firmino)

Why this game? Supporters were still bathing in the glory of beating Tottenham and talking about past deeds. The squad, on the other hand, were absolutely different. The past was gone, the future was what mattered and the Premier League needed to be won.

Burnley were ripped to pieces – Firmino was breathtaking, the final score could have been 6-0 – but the one unforgettable element was post-match. 

To a man, the squad walked out with faces of stone, absolutely in the zone. Easy to forget they won 26 and drew one of their first 27 matches that year.

9 – Manchester United, home; April 19, 2022. Won 4-0 (Diaz, Salah 2, Mane)

There have been so many momentous games against their most bitter-rivals but this was different to the freakish 7-0 at Anfield and the outstanding 5-1 at Old Trafford. 

Here was the night when the gulf in class and the directions in which the two clubs had travelled during the Klopp era was laid bare.

Not for a single second did you doubt that Liverpool were going to eviscerate United and that’s precisely what they did, the performance of Thiago Alcantara in midfield a joy to behold. Klopp looked almost apologetic when he shook the hand of his friend Ralf Rangnick afterwards.

10 – Chelsea, Wembley; February 25, 2024. Won 1-0 (Van Dijk)

The last of his eight trophies and, perhaps, the best example you could see of his as a coach. He thought nothing about the injuries that blighted the build-up and found the solutions from within, never complaining for a moment.

Young men stepped off the bench to have the time of their lives; signings once viewed sceptically, such as Wataru Endo, had huge influence then leaders – this time Virgil van Dijk – stepped up when it mattered most. 

Sentiments, you could say, that define the Jurgen Klopp era as a whole.