With a half-time lead, Liverpool suffered a painful defeat to Sevilla in the Europa League final, where their 1-3 defeat left Anfield through another trophy-free season. Henderson failed to get on the bench, and after a quick comeback from a knee injury, the captain watched as Klopp turned to Origi, Joe Allen and Christian Bentek in an attempt to turn the tide. Earlier, Klopp grabbed a microphone. "We are Liverpool, la-la-la-la," he sang, urging others to face it positively.
Six years on, Henderson looks back on that game and recognizes its importance. "I will always remember it," he told reporters ahead of Liverpool's champions league semi-final first leg win over Villarreal last week: "The coach is different and his mentality is different. He seemed to know that this was the beginning of a big deal. "Klopp, like everyone else, was saddened by the defeat, his team collapsed in the second half and his image looked bleak. But in his post-match press conference, he uttered one of the most prescient words from his time at Liverpool. "Someday," he told reporters, "everybody will say Liverpool are strong." ”
Of course, much has changed since then. With just four of Liverpool's 18-man squad, Henderson, Origi, James Milner and Fermino, the Reds have long since stopped using the Europa League as a reference. If they can beat Villarreal on Week 2, they will reach the Champions League final for the third time in five seasons. Klopp built an incredible team, many of its origins can be traced back to Basel, and the lessons learned from Emory and Sevilla were the way that defeated Klopp convinced Klopp of the need for increased offensive speed and a more agile, physically strong midfielder.
He signed Mane and Wijnaldum that summer, as well as Joel Matip, selling no less than 15 players, and when he came to Merseyside, the team he inherited was a good one, but he quickly realised that there were deep-seated problems in confidence and mentality. As he told his players at a memorable meeting: "Nobody likes this team, not even ourselves. "Changing this mindset has been on the agenda, but after the defeat, it's even more important to change mindset."
Under the pressure of the game, they collapsed, lost the lead, lost their coolness, lost their belief in winning, and finally lost the game. Even Klopp was criticised for much of the second half trying to incite the crowd, with little success in his substitutions and tactical adjustments. What they did, 12 months later, they were back in the Champions League, and with the arrival of Salah and Robertson, and the timely appearance of Alexander Arnold, their squad developed further.
They have been out of control ever since, recruiting new recruits and growing into one of the best two teams in Europe, perhaps the best in the history of the Reds. If May goes as smoothly as February, March and April, the team could get back everything they wanted, the FA Cup, premier league and Champions League, plus the Carlaobao Cup won earlier this year. Of course, this week they encountered a familiar enemy. Emery beat them at Sevilla and at Villarreal he could beat them again, even though Liverpool took a 2-0 lead in the first leg of Last Week's 3. But don't expect Liverpool to panic, Klopp and his team set their sights on Paris this time.