Having won the UEFA Champions League highest number of times in the Premier League and the 3rd highest in the world, Liverpool has been a very eminent team in this prestigious tournament. The famous win over the overpowered AC Milan team in Istanbul with the likes of Pirlo, Maldini, Crespo, Gattuso, and Seedorf, Liverpool bounced back from a 3 goal deficit, scoring 3 in just 6 minutes. Led by Steven Gerrard’s men, Liverpool managed to bag their 5th Champions League title beating AC Milan on penalties. Liverpool has also won the competition consecutively in 1977 and 78, beating Bayern Munich and Brugge respectively. The other two times they won in 1981 against Real Madrid and then in 1984, beating AS Roma.
Always having the ability to produce top players who are willing to perform on the top stage has been Liverpool’s forte. We shall now look at some remarkable players who played for Liverpool FC in the Champions League.
● Steven Gerrard.
The club and country legend, Steven Gerrard is one of the names that would always pop up when you talk about Liverpool in general or the Champions League. Liverpool’s skipper and the main man had 504 appearances in which he scored 120 goals and furnished 92 assists. Starting his career with the Merseyside club in 1998, Stevie G has won 11 major trophies. One of which was the famous victory in Istanbul, initiating the comeback at the 54th minute. With 68 appearances for Liverpool, out of which he captained the team 47 times, Gerrard is amongst the 7 Englishmen who have captained their side to European glory. He has scored 28 goals in the Champions League, including the qualifiers. Not just a remarkable player in the UEFA Champions League, Gerrard goes down in the history of football as one of the greatest midfielders to have ever played.
● Kenny Dalglish
Most of you must remember Dalglish for the tremendous manager he was. With his two terms with Liverpool as a manager, he had a 60% win rate won 5 major titles and became Liverpool’s third most successful title. His time as a player in Liverpool was fascinating too, scoring 172 goals for Liverpool in all competitions. He was in the Liverpool squads which won the 1878,81 and 84 European Cup. Besides that, he won 25 trophies for the Reds of Merseyside. Receiving the knighthood from Prince Charles after 13 Members of Parliament signed for the motion in 2011, Dalglish helped those affected by Hillsborough disaster said “We are hugely proud to have got this. You start off in life just hoping to be a footballer. You become a footballer and have a bit of success in the football world and that seems to give you a platform to go on to other things. We only set out to do the best we possibly could, even though all the other stuff.” Even though he did not score a lot of goals in his 515 appearances for Liverpool, Dalglish certainly was a prominent figure for Liverpool, both as a manager and a player.
● Jamie Carragher
Debuting for Liverpool on 18th January 1997, Jamie Carragher for Liverpool is what John Terry is for Chelsea, Rio Ferdinand is for Manchester United and what Sol Campbell is for Arsenal, a strong team leader who led Liverpool to 11 titles, one of which was the famous win in UEFA Champions League win in 2004-05. Although Carragher was involved in a controversy after spitting on a 14-year-old kid after he was heckled by the Manchester United fan, his life on the pitch was sterling. He was a rock at the back for the Liverpool side and played a total of 734 matches and scored 4 goals and 11 assists. Always known for giving his 100% on the pitch, Steven Gerrard was quoted saying “I'm very close to Jamie, we're good friends. Jamie is more into football that anyone I know. He thinks Sky+ is the best invention ever. He tapes every single sports show and watches them continuously! He's obsessed!" Being a center-back, he scored 1 goal in the qualifying stages and provided with 2 assists in the UEFA Champions League. Another remarkable center back, he is considered to be one of the best defenders in England. Currently working as a pundit, Carragher’s love for football or Liverpool has not died.
● Mohamed Salah
Talking about the players that are currently in the club, Mohamed Salah is definitely an outstanding player in Liverpool and also their best player by far for the past few seasons. After his move from AS Roma in 2017, he has scored 13 goals and assisted 6 in 22 games for Liverpool just in the Champions League. Bringing them to the finals of the Champions League Finals last year, luck was not with him as Sergio Ramos’ tackle injured his shoulder and he had to walk off the pitch in the first half with tears in his eyes. Mohamed Salah, also known as the Egyptian Messi, won the Premier League Player of the Year in 2017/18 season. Still only 26, Salah is worthy enough to be put in the list of remarkable players to play for Liverpool in the Champions League. The left-footed, right-winger is still going strong as Liverpool has reached the quarterfinals in this season and have a 2 goals lead against FC Porto. Adding to the glorious list of honors Salah has earned at just 26, he was also named the African player of the year for 2 consecutive years in 2017 and 2018. At this rate, he would definitely reach the heights of other Liverpool legends that are mentioned above.
● Fernando Torres
The Spanish stellar striker was at his prime in Liverpool where he scored 81 goals and gave 20 assists in 142 games before a record-breaking 50 million transfer to Chelsea in 2011. He represented Liverpool in Champions League for 21 games and scored 8 crucial goals. His most eminent season was 2007/08 where he helped Liverpool reached the semi-finals of the Champions League where he scored the opening goal of the first leg. He was handed the number 9 shirt by the Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler. Torres made his debut for Liverpool at Villa Park on August 11, 2007. Just a week later he smashed in his first official goal. He then went on to score successive home hat-tricks to see off Middlesbrough and West Ham which helped “El Nino” to reach a total of total 33 in 2007-08, including 24 in the league to overtake Ruud van Nistelrooy and become the most prolific foreigner ever in a debut season in England. His crucial strike in the Stade Velodrome against Marseille won Goal of the Season and was later voted as Liverpool’s Player of the Year.
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