Liverpool’s Champions League-winning heroics have dominated the headlines and a number of great statistics emerged from the final.
The Reds are European Champions for the sixth time—has it properly sunk in yet?
Jurgen Klopp‘s men gained legendary status on Saturday night, seeing off Tottenham in Madrid to complete a magnificent season.
It was the most significant night since Istanbul, hopefully paving the way for more great success with Klopp at the helm.
Here are five of the most interesting statistics from an evening that will always go down in legend.
Clinical Origi
Divock Origi‘s Liverpool career has had the most incredible turnaround, after it looked highly likely that he would exit Anfield last summer.
Instead, the Belgian stayed put and he has scored huge goals against Everton, Newcastle, Barcelona and, of course, the trophy-clinching strike on Saturday.
Origi has finished the campaign as Liverpool’s most potent player, with analyst Andrew Beasley confirming that he has averaged a goal or an assist every 84 minutes this season.
Nobody else has matched that level of ruthlessness, whether it be Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane or Roberto Firmino.
There is talk surrounding Origi being offered a new deal at Liverpool—it’s fair to say he has justified such faith being shown.
Statistical analysis site Infogol gave Origi’s shot just a 4 per cent chance of finding the net—that’s the same as Lionel Messi’s first-leg free-kick against the Reds in the Camp Nou. Unerring accuracy!
Magic Matip
Joel Matip is another whose fortunes have changed for the better, having found his best form in a Liverpool shirt at a priceless time.
Many were willing to see the Cameroonian move on a year ago, but things are very different now.
It was Matip’s deft touch that allowed Origi to make it 2-0 to the Reds late on in Madrid, in what was his first ever assist for the club.
It took 98 appearances for it happen—what a remarkable time to end the barren run.
Unbeatable Alisson
If ever there were any question marks surrounding Alisson being one of the top goalkeepers in the world, if not the best, he proved it emphatically against Spurs.
On an evening when not many outfield players found their top level, the Brazilian was a monster between the sticks, ultimately playing a huge part in Liverpool’s win.
Alisson became the first ‘keeper to keep a Champions League final clean sheet since 2010, when Julio Cesar enjoyed a shutout for Inter Milan against Bayern Munich.
On top of that, the 26-year-old made eight saves in total—the joint-most in a final since the competition’s inception, along with Man United‘s Edwin van der Sar in 2011, in a 3-1 defeat to Barcelona.
After Loris Karius‘ nightmare 12 months ago, it feels fitting that a Liverpool ‘keeper was the hero this time around.
Salah Completes the Set
The tears of an injured Salah during last season’s final defeat to Real Madrid were tough to take, but the emotions are very different now.
A year on and the Egyptian has his redemption, banishing horrible memories of Sergio Ramos and a painful night for anyone of a Reds persuasion.
Salah’s early penalty set Liverpool on their way victory at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium and it sealed a personal milestone for the forward.
In fact, Salah’s spot-kick hit the net after one minute and 48 seconds—the second-fastest Champions League final goal in history, after Paolo Maldini (50 seconds).
The 26-year-old’s goal means he has become only the second Reds player to score in every round of the Champions League: group stage, last-16, quarter-finals, semi-final and final.
Mane is the other individual to enjoy that feeling—he did it all in the same season in 2017/18, which is even more impressive.
Sloppy Reds…But Who Cares?
After a season full of fantastic, dominant performances, Liverpool actually saved one of their worst for the Champions League final.
A baking hot Madrid night meant for an energy-sapping contest with Spurs and neither side managed to click in an attacking sense.
This was highlighted by the fact that Klopp’s men managed a passing accuracy of just 64.34 percent, compared to Spurs’ 80 percent.
Liverpool’s average this season has been 79.91 percent, showing how off-target the were, with endless passes going astray.
Bizarrely enough, amid that wayward team performance and his own low-key impact, Gini Wijnaldum completed his passes with a 100 per cent success rate—but with just 12 passes in 60 minutes on the pitch, it again highlights the Reds’ lack of control in the middle.
Then again, Liverpool are the European champions and that is all that matters—past teams would not have been able to win in such ugly fashion.
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