Liverpool’s supporters and players went crazy when Virgil van Dijk scored late on to win the League Cup, and it seemed even the injured players couldn’t help themselves.
That feeling was incredible. Knowing we had done what had seemed so difficult to fathom, at several points of the match, triggered relief, joy and disbelief on an enormous scale.
The fans and squad were together as they pushed the young Reds on to victory, and Van Dijk’s header was the crowning moment of a spirited performance, on the pitch and in the stands.
When Liverpool’s captain headed into the corner of the net, over half of Wembley went berserk, including several of the Reds’ injured players who were in attendance.
As Curtis Jones hobbled down the stairs, Darwin Nunez raced down them, flying onto the pitch after hurdling the advertising hoardings like a Grand National-running race horse.
Following the Uruguayan was Dominik Szoboszlai, who looked equally as thrilled to be on the brink of his first Liverpool trophy.
It did come as a surprise, though, that they were able to jump around so freely, given they were missing the match through injury.
Manager Jurgen Klopp commented: “OK Darwin and Dom are obviously not fit in the moment, that’s why they didn’t play, but the celebration looked at 100 percent let me say it like that.
“I’ll have to talk about that with the medical department!”
Both players are close to returning, with an appearance on the bench against Southampton, on Wednesday, the most likely outcome.
Prior to the match, Szoboszlai told Hungariaan outlet Match4: ““I would play, I told them, my plan is to return as soon as possible pain-free, but taking the risks involved.
“I would take the slightly bigger risk to play in the final… but [the medical staff] were more careful.
“And he’s off…” ? pic.twitter.com/wG2yPIcJCB
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 26, 2024
“And I’m also looking to the future: I’d rather play another 20 games than get injured again now.”
On Nunez, coach Pep Lijnder said: “Dom, Darwin and Mo (Salah) we have to really see, we have two more days. So today’s session and tomorrow’s session. We will check if they can be there.
“Would be great, to be honest!”
They didn’t make it into the squad for the final, but the fact they were in contention suggests we’re not too far away from seeing them back in red.
