Liverpool won a dramatic penalty shoot-out to secure the first domestic trophy of the season after a classic Carabao Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
The Reds have now won the competition nine times with the last victory in 2011/12 against Cardiff City
Kepa Arrizabalaga, brought on in the closing moments of extra time as a penalty specialist, missed the decisive spot-kick after a magnificent game came down to a shoot-out between Chelsea’s keeper and his Liverpool counterpart Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kelleher made it 11 penalties from 11 for Liverpool but Kepa blazed wildly over the top as a high-class showpiece was decided by the finest of margins after 21 successful attempts.
Chelsea, who had three goals disallowed for offside, were left to rue two big misses by Mason Mount but they were also grateful for a magnificent display from keeper Edouard Mendy, who produced a string of outstanding saves.
Liverpool created a host of chances and had a Joel Matip goal ruled out for a foul and offside in an incident-packed game that went right down to the wire before Jurgen Klopp’s side prevailed, for a record ninth League Cup success.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has won an illustrious 11 trophies across his time managing at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, including the UEFA Champions League. In that time, he has won four finals to directly earn silverware.
With Mainz, he won promotion to the Bundesliga back in 2004, and then won back-to-back league titles with Dortmund from 2010-2012.
He won his first cup final in 2012, adding the DFL-Pokal Cup to his collection by beating Bayern Munich 5-2. He then added two DFL-Supercups in 2013 & 2014.
Following a tough run of finals where his performance in big matches was openly questioned, Klopp finally broke through in 2019 with Liverpool as it secured the club’s sixth European Cup, beating Tottenham 2-0 in the final.
