Jurgen Klopp sets new Liverpool record with latest win in Europe
Jurgen Klopp set a new Liverpool record with his team's 3-1 Europa League group stage victory over LASK on Thursday evening, having now won more games in European competitions than any other manager in the history of the club.
Last season's 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League group stage was Klopp's 49th for Liverpool in Europe, equalling the record held by Rafa Benitez.
Thanks to goals from Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah to come from behind in Austria, Klopp moved on to 50 to stand alone and set a new benchmark.
It is more than club legends Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley, the latter of whom won three European Cups during his nine years at the helm. However, a respectful Klopp was quick to point out that the modern nature of European football means his team have played far more games.
The German coach also said it will mean nothing if Liverpool don't keep winning to progress from the group stage in a competition they have vowed to take seriously this season.
«Let me say it like this, if I still have 50 after the group stage then I'm still the most successful Liverpool manager [in this regard] and everybody will hate the fact!» he said.
"[It's] nice [to have the record]. We played quite a lot of games in Europe. It's good that we won that many, we have qualified for four finals. It's great but probably it's because in European competition there are just much more games than in the past. I'm pretty sure that’s the reason."
Liverpool reached the 2016 Europa League final within a few months of Klopp taking charge, before then getting to the Champions League final two years later. They lost on both occasions, but then beat Tottenham to lift the Champions League trophy in 2019.
A fourth European final with Liverpool
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