A stalemate at Anfield as legends of yesteryear rolled into town, playing under the watchful eye of Kenny Dalglish and Jurgen Klopp, making his first return to the Anfield dugout since departing in summer 2024.
Liverpool Legends 2-2 Dortmund Legends
LFC Foundation Charity Match | Anfield
March 28, 2026
Goals: Thiago 6′, Spearing 39′; Zidan 65′, Koller 80′
Not many clubs in the world can put on Legends friendly matches like Liverpool Football Club.
As the first whistle sounded at Anfield on Saturday, with the final shimmering of You’ll Never Walk Alone fading from the soundsystem, this certainly did not feel like the international break in L4.
A sold-out stadium, 60,000 seats taken and Steven Gerrard leading the Reds out covered head to toe in full Adidas, the current home kit and the recently released ’90s heritage training range. Nostalgia overload in abundance.
As Jurgen Klopp took his seat in the technical area, alongside King Kenny and fellow assistant Ian Rush, it took an eager Kop end all of three minutes to bring out his song.
Liverpool may have picked up another Premier League title since his departure, but this big German is sorely missed around these parts.
And yet with such a grand stage exquisitely set and a fizzing atmosphere, would the action live up to the anticipation or fall flat? Well, let it never be said that former professional footballers lose the desire and taste for battle.
This may have only been a friendly match with legends of Liverpool and Dortmund from years gone by, but tell that to Thiago who launched into full slide challenge to hook possession back into the path of the home team with just 60 seconds played.
Or tell that to Gerrard, who crunched so hard into a 50-50 shoulder challenge with Marcel Schmelzer that his shinpad scattered across the Anfield turf.
Elite footballers can’t help but switch back into the autopilot of full-blooded athlete once the whistle goes and a stadium full of eyes are peering down at them.
Anfield didn’t have to wait long for its first slice of entertainment, Thiago breaking the deadlock with just six minutes played, being slotted through at the Anfield Road end and sliding low to flick the ball with an outstretched toe over the onrushing Roman Weidenfeller.
Moments later the piece of magic everyone had hoped for almost came off, Gerrard receiving the ball with a quick interchange with Thiago in the middle of the park, before playing the Spaniard through on goal one-on-one with a lofted pass.
A midfield partnership Anfield could only have dreamed of seeing during their heyday, but Weidenfeller stood tall and made amends to deny Thiago doubling his tally.
With the weather holding and Merseyside even being treated to patches of sunlight, Liverpool hit the accelerator and peppered the visitors’ goal, Gerrard going close again before Fabio Aurelio stung the hands of the goalkeeper with a trademark left-footed piledriver.
The door was being firmly rapped upon and it felt fitting that Jay Spearing of all people should bulldoze it open in such swashbuckling style, catching the ball on the half-volley to pick out the top corner of the Anfield Road end goal from 25 yards – an effort befitting of Gerrard’s capabilities.
Not bad for someone who never scored a senior goal during his Liverpool career!
A smattering of boos may have rang out for Mo Zidan‘s questionable offside tucked finish when played one-on-one with Pepe Reina, but Liverpool could have no cause for complaint when big target man Jan Koller rolled back the years to muscle a powerful, flicked header in for the equaliser with 10 minutes left to play.
The final whistle sounded with spoils shared at 2-2, with another great milestone for the LFC Foundation. We now look ahead to next year’s Legends friendly in what will be the 10th instalment.
Over £9 million has now been raised from these matches over the years, with proceeds from Saturday’s match going on to further support both the Foundation and the club’s former players association Forever Reds.
Man of the Match: Thiago
LFC First Half XI: Dudek; Skrtel, Hyypia, Klavan; Wright, Biscan, Spearing, Aurelio; Gerrard, Thiago; Babel
LFC Second Half XI: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Klavan, Kuyt, Pennant, Gerrard, Smicer, Gonzalez, Sinama Pongolle, Crouch
More subs used: Westerveld, Dowie, Riera, Benayoun, Vignal