Liverpool lift Premier League trophy: Goals galore, explosions and a red sky

The fireworks started at Anfield long before that Premier League trophy was presented to Liverpool.

Liverpool’s 5-3 win against Chelsea, a fittingly entertaining finale to their third successive unbeaten Premier League season at Anfield, was played out to the soundtrack of thunderous explosions, red lights in the sky and the smell of cordite.

And was that before Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson led the new champions, along with manager Jurgen Klopp and his staff, on to the specially built podium to officially signal the end of the 30-year wait to get their hands on this most prized domestic trophy.

It was symbolic that the trophy was handed over by the last manager to win it at Liverpool, Sir Kenny Dalglish, as friends and families looked on after receiving special dispensation to attend, although the game was played behind closed doors in front of limited numbers as is now the custom as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

As the starter before the main course, Liverpool showed all the verve and resilience that has made them worthy Premier League champions to finally overcome a Chelsea side still chasing the point they need for a place in the top four.

It was an evening with a surreal tinge.

Before lockdown, as Liverpool ran away with the Premier League, the expectation was that the title would be celebrated inside a packed Anfield with the Kop in full voice.

Instead, Anfield anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone was accompanied by virtual silence as the players walked out, while the shouts of celebration from Liverpool staff members as they posed for photographs before the formal presentation could be heard echoing around the cavernous stands.

This was not the title celebration as Liverpool or their supporters wanted it – they all wished to be together, with Anfield a sea of red.

That was not possible, but they still relished every moment, and deservedly so.

It was only sad that so many supporters once again chose to ignore the urgings of Liverpool as a club, as well as Klopp and Dalglish, to stay away from the stadium, instead gathering in greater numbers as the game went on, forcing Merseyside Police to put a dispersal zone in place.

Inside, Anfield was plunged into darkness before a light show of rock concert proportions flashed around the stadium, Klopp and his staff leading the way before Liverpool’s players got their golden moment.

It was the sort of triumphant scene that was commonplace at Anfield during the 1970s and ’80s, when the team were regularly league champions. While there had been plenty of domestic and European success in the years since 1990, one honour eluded them – until now.

As Dalglish handed out the medals and then the Premier League trophy, he did it with his own name up in bright red lights on the giant Anfield stand that now bears his name.

The manner in which Liverpool first overpowered Chelsea, then ensured victory in the face of the visitors’ dangerous resurgence, offered another graphic demonstration that Klopp’s side possesses everything required to add more trophies.

On the podium, there were those such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, magnificent once again here, who will be part of the Liverpool fabric for years, then Adam Lallana, making his final Anfield appearance, bowing out with a title medal in his possession before moving on.

Here stood Liverpool’s present, future and past.