Liverpool finally shed their underdog spirit

Liverpool’s win against Bayern Munich on Wednesday showcased how the team have developed under Jurgen Klopp.

There was an almost miraculous quality to Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final last season. They stunned their opponents, beating them back so breathlessly, with such intense bursts of emotional energy, their knockout ties were usually over before anyone had any time to think through what had happened. 5-0 against Porto. 3-0 against City. 5-2 against Roma.

The Reds’ current Champions League campaign, like their current league campaign, could hardly be more different. Liverpool travelled to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday and grinded out a scrappy 3-1 win, the go-ahead goal scored by Virgil van Dijk, who rose above above Javi Martinez to bundle in a header at the back post.

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Sadio Mane added a third late on, heading in Mohamed Salah’s perfect, outside-of-the-foot cross to cap off one of the few genuinely high quality moves of the match — but it was a cushion Liverpool really didn’t need. They were too good for Bayern, who exit this competition before the quarterfinal stage for the first time since 2012.

When most teams are as good as Jurgen Klopp’s side currently are, there’s no reason to point it out. But for Liverpool — whose high points in the lean years since their last league title in 1990 have been brief, and defined by their underdog spirit — for Liverpool this win feels a little more significant.

It’s notable, too, that this transformation from plucky underdogs to efficient winners has been overseen by Klopp. The German manager’s entire managerial career has been founded on the premise that what makes football special is the fact the best players don’t always win, that a strong collection of mediocre players can overcome a weak collection of talented ones.

The team he has built is a strong collective, but it’s no longer a team that must drag more talented opponents into a dogfight in order to win. This side are capable of meeting Europe’s best on their own terms, of travelling to places like the Allianz and producing a composed, efficient, defensive display, trusting in the quality of their front three to make a telling difference.

The irony here is that this may not have been Klopp’s plan ahead of the match. He selected — to much consternation — Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner in midfield, and left Fabinho, arguably the club’s best midfielder, on the bench. It could have been a very different performance had Henderson not been forced off with injury within 15 minutes.

As it was, Fabinho produced exactly the sort of intelligent display that has made him an automatic starter in the league over the past few months. His composure on the ball, his willingness to receive it under pressure, adds a dimension to the Liverpool midfield that Henderson, for all his qualities, cannot.

As the tournament progresses, we may yet see the return of Klopp’s traditional, high-pressing approach — there are still teams left in the draw against whom it would be a smart decision — but their ability to also play a more cautious, measured game has transformed them into a much scarier prospect for the other seven sides left in the competition.