Liverpool Legends drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund but more than the result, it was a chance for supporters to reconnect with old heroes.
After arriving in the 1995/96 retro range, the Reds turned back the clock to beat Dortmund Legends thanks to goals from Thiago and Jay Spearing.
This was Jurgen Klopp‘s first time back out on the Anfield touchline since leaving in May 2024.
He has been back to L4 since, returning for Taylor Swift and Liverpool crowning moment in the Premier League last year, but this was the first occasion on which he has properly been able to take the adulation of the Kop.
The German sat on a bench with Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and John Aldridge – not a bad attacking trio – while the biggest names on the field were Steven Gerrard and Thiago.
You could just tell the pair loved playing with each other, even if this was just a friendly!
It became clear early on that Thiago was going to run the game, and having only retired two years ago, he looked the fittest of the squad.
He hasn’t lost an ounce of his technical ability either, caressing the ball with every touch and pass.
Twenty minutes into the match, play stopped as the crowd rose to their feet to applaud in memory of Diogo Jota. The players on the pitch followed suit, an act that brought Jota’s ex-teammate, Thiago, to tears.
The best moment of the day, though, came from Jay Spearing, who is actually still registered as a Liverpool player while coaching at the academy.
He unleashed a fist-time rocket from the edge of the box that gave opposition goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller no chance.
Dortmund came back into the game and scored twice in the second half, through Mohamed Zidan and the enormous Jan Koller, to finish the magch level.
The result mattered not, though, as this had been the LFC Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year and fans got to engage with Klopp after full time, with the boss giving three sides of Anfield his trademark fist pumps.
