Jurgen Klopp clinched the tenth major trophy of his career as Liverpool as Virgil van Dijk's extra-time header sealed victory in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Traditionally the least cared-about of the cups, the Reds' win at Wembley took on extra meaning for multiple reasons.
The victory marked a tenth League Cup win for Liverpool, extending their record number of wins in the competition, while Sunday's game could well be Klopp's final outing at Wembley as Liverpool boss before leaving this summer.
The Reds battled to victory against big-spending Chelsea despite 11 first-team absentees through injury prior to kick-off — while Ryan Gravenberch was added to the list when he was stretchered off in the first half following Moises Caicedo's challenge.
'Klopp's Kids' shone in the absence of Liverpool's bigger stars with seven academy graduates playing a role in the win, including three teenagers.
Speaking after the whistle, Klopp hailed the significance of the win in the face of adversity, saying: “In more than 20 years it is easily the most special trophy I have ever won. It is absolutely exceptional.
“Sometimes people ask me if I’m proud of things and it’s really tricky, I wish I could feel pride more often but tonight is an overwhelming feeling.
“I was proud of everyone involved in everything here: I was proud of our people for the way they pushed us, I was proud of the staff for creating this kind of atmosphere surrounding where these boys can just do what they are best at.
“I was proud of our academy, I was proud of my coaches, I was proud of so many things. It was completely overwhelming.”
The 2023/24 Carabao Cup final will surely go down in club (and wider football) history, and is already Klopp's personal favourite trophy from his collection... yet anyway.
But where do we rank it out of all the manager's major honours since his arrival at Anfield?
7. UEFA Super Cup (2019)
"ADRIAN!!!!!!!!"
Of course Jurgen Klopp has gone full Rocky Balboa on us 😂
🎤 @DesKellyBTS pic.twitter.com/BZzG4hNXxo
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 14, 2019
Final: Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea (5-4 pens)
Let's face it, it's basically the European Community Shield and doesn't really matter.
Although it's still better to win it than not, obviously — especially when facing Chelsea.
The Reds and the Blues played out an entertaining game in Istanbul, with Sadio Mane scoring twice for the Champions League holders.
Jorginho's extra-time penalty pegged Liverpool back, after stand-in keeper Adrian brought down Tammy Abraham.
Adrian went from zero to hero during the shootout, however, saving Abraham's penalty to clinch victory for Liverpool after all five of the Reds' takers scored.
Rather than the football or achievement itself, this trophy win is perhaps best remembered for Klopp shouting 'Adrian' in Rocky style during the post-match celebrations.
6. League Cup (2022)
Final: Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea (11-10 pens)
Another final with Chelsea and probably the dullest game of the lot... at least until late on.
Joel Matip had a second-half header ruled out by VAR after Virgil van Dijk was adjudged to have interfered with play from an offside position in the build-up — something we'd see repeated two years later.
Meanwhile, Chelsea had not one but two strikes ruled out for offside in extra-time sending the game to spot kicks.
As in Istanbul three years prior, Liverpool didn't miss, converting 11 from 11, including one from cup keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Chelsea brought on Kepa Arrizibalaga just for the shootout, but the Spaniard failed to get near any of the Reds' efforts (with Fabinho and Van Dijk's strikes especially memorable) and then skied his own decisive effort to hand Liverpool a ninth League Cup trophy. Funny.
5. Club World Cup (2019)
Final: Liverpool 1-0 Flamengo (aet)
OK, it's a bit of an unserious competition on many levels and the European team is always the heavy favourite going, but — crucially — Liverpool had never won the Club World Cup before, losing in 2005 to Sao Paulo.
The Reds had also twice lost out in the Intercontinental Cup (the Club World Cup's predecessor) back in the 80s, adding extra weight to their 2019 bid.
Liverpool famously got no favours domestically for competing in the competition, with a League Cup match against Aston Villa scheduled the day before their semi-final against Monterrey.
The Reds' kids ultimately had to take a beating in that one, while the senior side scraped past their Mexican opponents 2-1, thanks to goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian came up clutch again in a surprisingly bad-tempered final in Qatar, scoring in extra-time to make the Reds, officially, champions of the world for the first time.
4. FA Cup (2022)
Final: Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea (6-5 pens)
Regularly accused of not giving much respect to the domestic cups at Liverpool while prioritising the league and Europe, Klopp hit back in 2022 as his side went the distance in every competition available.
This trophy win had added importance as it was the Reds' first FA Cup in 16 long years (with the last being the 2006 'Gerrard final').
The Reds were, at this point, also still chasing down an unprecedented quadruple, having secured the League Cup months before and with the Premier League and Champions League still to play for.
While defeat in pursuit of the final two competitions ultimately dampened the memory of Liverpool's domestic cup double, it remains a significant achievement.
Once again, Liverpool and Chelsea went to pens and once again Liverpool came out on top as they secured an eighth title in the world's oldest cup competition.
'Greek Scouser' Kostas Tsimikas cemented his place in Reds folklore with the winning spot kick, while it was Alisson rather than Kelleher who was the hero between the sticks.
3. League Cup (2024)
Final: Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (aet)
In Klopp's words 'easily the most special trophy' of his career.
Liverpool would, on a normal day, have been heavy favourites to beat Chelsea at Wembley — having seen off Mauricio Pochettino's side 4-1 at Anfield just a month before.
However, with an entire team of players out with injury the task at hand became a lot more complicated, with Klopp left relying on his second string and little-tested academy starlets.
The team that Liverpool managed to put out shone through, with Van Dijk putting in the sort of performance that gets finals named after you, while Wataru Endo, Kelleher, Bradley and many more impressed.
For added context, the Liverpool's XI that ended the game had a total transfer cost of £150m, compared to Chelsea's cost of over £500m.
Gary Neville, of all people, summed it up best with the immortal Sky commentary line: Klopp's kids vs the Blue billion-pound bottlejobs.
2. Champions League (2019)
Final: Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham
While the final itself will be best remembered by many for Divock Origi's late clincher, the 2019 Champions League success will forever be closest associated with the semi final comeback over Barcelona — perhaps the greatest European night in Liverpool's history.
After a swashbuckling but ultimately vulnerable side made it to the 2018 final ahead of schedule, Klopp's men went to another level in 2019 as we saw the start of the period of domination.
Key additions of Alisson and Fabinho helped raise the standards, while Mo Salah had the bit between his teeth having been denied a year before.
The Reds' semis and final performances exemplified the two key pillars of Klopp teams: resilience in the face of adversity and an ability to be ruthless when it came to the crunch.
The European Cup remains a competition inexorably tied to Liverpool Football Club and Klopp's 2019 win to add a sixth chapter in the book alongside past greats was a hugely special moment.
1. Premier League (2020)
It has to be.
When Klopp arrived at Liverpool in October 2015, the task was clear: get the club back in contention for titles.
The Reds' lack of league success since 1990 had become a sore point as rivals Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and then Manchester City enjoyed periods of domination.
In the end, it was worth the wait.
Liverpool's record in 2019/20 simply cannot be underplayed with the Reds dropping just two points in their first 27 Premier League games as they stormed to the title.
In the end, they achieved 99 points (the second highest in top flight history) and finished 18 points clear of City. Not even Covid could stop Jurgen's Reds.
It remains, Klopp's biggest achievement as Liverpool manager, though there's still time to top it.