Liverpool is the English team that has had the most success in European competition. Five times, the Reds have lifted the European Cup, the last time in 2005. But the way things are in the money-dominated modern game, Liverpool was unlikely be in the final this year, like it is Saturday against Real Madrid (1:30 p.m., Ch. 9 in Kiev, Ukraine).
That the team has climbed back to the top of Europe — and back into the top four — owes to a club-wide effort of reinvention led by Jürgen Klopp, who has cemented his status as one of the greatest managers in soccer today.
Klopp is the rare manager who is revered everywhere he has been. At Mainz, he went from player to manager in the span of a few months and led the club to promotion. He turned Borussia Dortmund into that rarest of things, a counterweight to the almighty power of Bayern Munich in Germany.
And now, he is competing with the otherworldly financial might of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in England — and has overtaken them all in Europe.
His favored system is simple to describe, yet difficult to execute. Klopp's teams focus on pressing the opponent all over the field, especially in the attacking half, in hopes of forcing turnovers in positions where Liverpool's players will have a chance to score. It's a system that has hassled some of the best teams in Europe, especially those fed on a steady diet of also-ran competition in domestic leagues that aren't used to going toe-to-toe with an opponent in their own end of the field.
Occasionally, Liverpool struggles against lesser competition, because it can be hard to press an opponent that has no interest in holding on to the ball for any length of time. But against the best — teams used to controlling the game — it's devastating.
This season's domestic results are a good example of the uneven nature of Klopp's system. Liverpool dominated Manchester City, even as City ran roughshod over the rest of England. Not only did Liverpool hand City its first league loss of the season, but it knocked the Citizens out of the Champions League, denying Pep Guardiola's money-soaked side its ultimate goal.
At the same time, the Reds won just twice in six matches against the three relegated Premier League teams.
