It was worth the 90 minutes of rigor, the 30 extra and the 10 penalties thrown. They were worth it because they rounded up an almost fantasy story, that of Adrián San Miguel, a handful of days without a contract and training with a Regional team, since yesterday the hero who gave Liverpool his first European Super Cup in the batch of penalties His stop in the last of the five he had to throw Chelsea helped him find a place in the prolific history of Liverpool's success. And, also, to amend his error in the extension, when he overwhelmed Abraham - also the pitcher of the penalty he stopped - and allowed Jorginho to tie the duel from 11 meters.

It was the climax to a very disputed final in which Liverpool was always better at the beginning of each of the times to lose bellows later. The initial fervor lasted little for Liverpool, the same time it took Chelsea to find escape routes that did not require Jorginho's participation, always well insulated by those of Klopp. The German coach had put in place a fairly recognizable eleven, but with two variations that weighed his performance. Firmino's substitution displaced Mané to the center of the attack, where he barely hurt, and the bet on Gomez instead of Alexander-Arnold subtracted him a lot of depth from the right side.

The meeting was settling with an even domain, with more Liverpool presence in the opposite field, but almost always ineffective. Chelsea, on the other hand, just looked out in attack to generate real danger, with Pedro breaking lines from a band and Kanté messing up Liverpool with his powerful conductions. After one of them, Pulisic received the ball and observed the unchecking of Giroud, who culminated with a left-footed shot a quick play that caught Klopp's with his foot changed. Actually, with the passing of the minutes the network defense seemed increasingly messy and that was the toll to pay. It could be worse, since Pulisic scored the second two minutes later, but Frappart's assistant did not hesitate to point out an offside game that is not easy to see.

Klopp saw that this was not going to give him any joy, so after the break he took Firmino out. And with that one movement, Liverpool flew away. After three minutes, he tied the game after a Brazilian left Mané, who only had to push behind the empty door, after Fabinho turned a rebound into an accurate shipment to the area. The storm lasted for 10 minutes of pure fury, but Liverpool was not able to take advantage of that domain to consummate its comeback.

After that phase, the meeting plunged into a new one that nobody wanted to risk. A long and rather boring stretch, with little football and in which it was noted that the season is still on the first sheet of the calendar. Especially in the physical plane, in which both sets went down whole after the game time. Kepa lethargy eradicated, a quarter of an hour from the end with a portentous double intervention in a corner, denying the goal first to Salah and then to Van Dijk.

Neither team was able to avoid an extension in which Liverpool found the advantage with the same formula that tied the game. On this occasion, Mané stole the ball, leaned on Firmino and he drew a pass back for the Senegalese to shoot a sold Kepa. Liverpool already looked champion, but a debatable Adrián penalty on Abraham allowed Jorginho to draw from 11 meters, sending the penalty shootout to the duel, in which Adrian became a hero.

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  • Sadio Mané
  • European Super Cup
  • Mohamed Salah
  • Liverpool FC

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