Dejan Lovren has claimed he left Liverpool’s hotel on the night the Premier League title was secured to join fans celebrating at Anfield.
The Reds’ 19th league title arrived after 30 years and was duly met with a wave of emotion from all associated with the club, but it came at a time of a global pandemic.
And while thousands of fans congregated at Anfield after Liverpool were confirmed champions after Man City fell to defeat at Chelsea on June 25, Jurgen Klopp‘s side were watching on from their Formby Hall hotel.
With a bubble formed among the players and staff, they enjoyed a party of their own as they celebrated a league title secured in style.
Players were forbidden to break protocol and join fans at Anfield, but the former Liverpool defender, now at Zenit St Petersburg, claims he did exactly that as he wanted to soak up an atmosphere that the Reds were unable to experience first hand due to the coronavirus.
“Yes! I did something that I don’t know if anybody knows,” Lovren told Sport 24. “You are the first person that knows. After the game, a lot of all the fans went to the stadium, it was a big party.
“They told us ‘guys don’t even go to the stadium because you will have problems, we can’t keep you safe’.
Dejan Lovren – How he sneaked out of Liverpool's team hotel and joined LFC fans celebrating their title win at Anfield. pic.twitter.com/n5P74K67Fd
— Vladimir Kolos (@kolos_vladimir) August 18, 2020
“I said to myself, the party was already over, I don’t want to go to sleep it’s too early at midnight, so I took the car and went to Anfield, just to experience this.
“And I drove myself there, I have a video, I put the mask on and my god, tens of thousands of people celebrating and I just wanted to feel this emotion.
“We had a good celebration in the stadium but it was empty, I needed to do it and I was really happy that I did it. It was a good experience.”
Asked if anyone spotted him, he added: “Maybe three people just because I put my mask down to see my phone. And in this second like four of them saw me but it was really good.
“I was alone, nobody [else.] I said to Adrian I was going now and he said ‘no you’re lying’. I went and sent him some videos, he was like ‘no chance you did that’, he was so surprised.”
While his claim that he went to Anfield on face value for some will seem justifiable, the fact that he could have consumed alcohol does create a major cause for concern as does the recklessness of putting the team and coaching staff at risk during a pandemic.
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