It is eight years to the day since Liverpool lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid in heartbreaking fashion.
The 3-1 defeat in Kyiv had everything, from Mohamed Salah’s injury and Gareth Bale’s outrageous bicycle kick to Loris Karius’ complete collapse on the biggest stage.
For Liverpool, it was devastating. But it was also the deepest European run of the Jurgen Klopp era to that point, and a clear sign of where the club were heading.
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That night hurt more than most, but it also helped create the mentality that would soon make Liverpool dominant.
Liverpool’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid was a turning point
Liverpool were ahead of schedule when they reached the 2018 Champions League final.
Klopp had improved the team dramatically, but the Reds were not yet the complete machine they would become. They had finished fourth in the Premier League, 25 points behind Manchester City, and were still figuring out how to contend consistently at the highest level.
Real Madrid were different. They arrived in Kyiv looking for a third straight Champions League title, with experience everywhere and a squad of ruthless winners.
Liverpool still had a chance, until everything started to unravel.
Salah went off injured in the first half after his tangle with Sergio Ramos, taking Liverpool’s biggest attacking weapon out of the game.
Then came the Karius mistakes.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring after the goalkeeper threw the ball straight against him, before Sadio Mane quickly dragged Liverpool level.
Then Bale produced one of the greatest Champions League final goals ever, acrobatically firing Madrid back in front.
His second should still have been dealt with, but Karius let the long-range effort slip through him, sealing a crushing 3-1 defeat. Liverpool had not been outclassed beyond recognition, but they had been shown the difference between a team arriving at the top and one comfortably on their perch.
Andy Robertson has since admitted that Liverpool were probably not ready for that final.
Speaking on The Overlap, he said: “Like in terms of, you know, mentally because the season before we got beat in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, realistically, we weren’t ready for that final. We were coming up against, you know, the old-timers of the Champions League.”
The following season, the chance came again.
Liverpool finished on 97 points in the Premier League and still missed out on the title to City. It could have broken them, but the Champions League final against Tottenham gave them something to chase.
“We were that determined to go and win that Champions League because we knew that could be the start of our success,” Robertson added.
He was right. Liverpool won in Madrid in 2019, then followed it by ending the 30-year wait for the league title in 2020.
There is a strong argument that none of it happens without Kyiv. That failure hardened Liverpool and turned them into one of the mentally toughest sides in Europe.
Eight years on, it remains one of the most painful nights of Klopp’s reign. It was also one of the most important.
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