‘You can’t do that!’: Luis Diaz couldn’t believe what Fabinho told him ahead of penalty shoot-out

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Luis Diaz says one Liverpool teammate told him about his plan for a penalty in the shoout-out against Chelsea. Diaz just didn’t believe it.

Liverpool won the EFL Cup last month after a dramatic penalty shoot-out. In fact, it was one of the highest-quality shoot-outs you’ll ever see – until the 22nd penalty.

There were 21 consecutive successes before Kepa Arrizabalaga (brought on as a penalty-saving expert) skied his effort into the stands. Liverpool were winners and Jurgen Klopp had another new trophy for his collection.

But again, we can’t stress enough how good the penalties were here, particularly from Liverpool. There was James Milner’s effort to start things off – an emphatic, unsavable hit into the side-netting.

Pretty much everyone’s favourite was Virgil van Dijk’s, though. Kepa tried to throw him off by deliberately standing to his right, leaving a big gap for the Dutchman to hit. Van Dijk still went to Kepa’s right and then stared him down afterwards.

And then there was Fabinho. Few players have the gall to Panenka a penalty in a cup final – Antonin Panenka himself and Andrea Pirlo stand out as great examples, of course. The Brazilian went for it this time, though, and really put Kepa in his place.

And according to Luis Diaz, his Liverpool teammate had the plan all along.

Luis Diaz on Fabinho’s Liverpool penalty

“In the days leading up to the final, we were taking penalty kicks and we practised together for sure,” Diaz told Liverpoolfc.com. “He’d been joking around saying, ‘If it goes to penalties, I’m doing a Panenka.’ And I said, ‘I can’t believe it.’

“I was laughing at him, saying, ‘No, you can’t do that! If it goes wrong, the fans take it badly in a final.’ So when the moment came and he’s stepping up, I’m thinking, ‘Blimey, is he going to do this?’

“When it came off how it did, it just shows the class and quality of the player that he did it. I was kind of shocked and surprised in a good way how it came about.”

It was absolutely glorious and no, we have no idea how Fabinho had the nerve. Thank God he did, though – it was a sensational moment that helped set Liverpool on the way to glory.