Liverpool’s Carabao Cup victory over Chelsea on Sunday was a moment of sheer jubilation for fans and players alike, but amid the wild celebrations, manager Jurgen Klopp found himself with a bone to pick with his medical team.
The decisive, extra-time goal by Virgil van Dijk sent waves of euphoria through the Liverpool camp, igniting scenes of joy and disbelief both on the pitch and in the stands at Wembley.
However, one thing that caught Klopp’s eye were the actions of certain sidelined players who couldn’t resist joining in with the celebrations.
At the full-time whistle, midfielder Curtis Jones was seen hobbling down a flight of stairs and was pushed to one side by Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai, who sprinted onto the field of play after hurdling a barrier and the advertising hoardings.
“AT 100 PER CENT”
The Uruguayan certainly didn’t go unnoticed and was spotted leaping in celebration in the background of a number of shots of a distraught-looking Chelsea boss, Mauricio Pochettino.
Szoboszlai, meanwhile, jumped on Klopp himself, who was clearly amused by the situation in his post-match press conference.
“OK, Darwin and Dom are obviously not fit in the moment, that’s why they didn’t play,” he said. “But the celebration looked at 100 per cent let me say it like that.”
“I’ll have to talk about that with the medical department!”
A CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
Szoboszlai and Nunez, though clearly eager to be back on the pitch, were sidelined for the final due to ongoing injury concerns.
Despite making a brief return at the tail end of January, the Hungarian has experienced a recurrence of his previous muscle injury.
Likewise, Nunez was withdrawn during the Brentford game as a precaution after he “felt something”.
But given the energy shown in their post-match revelry, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see them in the matchday squad for Wednesday’s FA Cup tie with Southampton.
