Skip to content
Fabinho reveals blunt Jurgen Klopp and Sadio Mane dressing room exchange that sparked iconic Liverpool comeback
Fabinho believes Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg at Anfield was ‘fate’.
Despite a good performance in the first leg at the Nou Camp, the Reds found themselves 3-0 down and looking like they were on their way out of Europe’s elite competition.
With Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino injured for the second leg, Liverpool produced one of the greatest comebacks ever to be seen as they then went on to lift their sixth Champions League trophy weeks later.
READ MORE: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opens up on Liverpool exit and plan for next move
READ MORE: Liverpool ‘make contact’ over Bruno Guimaraes transfer as contract offer claim made
The Liverpool midfielder started alongside Jordan Henderson and James Milner in the Reds engine room. He spoke to The Players Tribune: “In the changing room after the game, of course we were down, but we still had this optimism. At one point it was just Klopp, Mané and me left in the room.
“We were all saying, “How did we lose this 3–0?” And then Klopp asks us, “But do you still believe we can win the second leg and make it to the final?”
“I went first: “Yes, I think so.” And then Sadio said, “Yeah, so do I.” And Klopp was like, “Good. Because I think so too.”
“Our confidence built ahead of the second leg. We even ‘forgot’ that Salah and Bobby were injured. We all just knew how it had to be.
“But the way it happened … man, there are some nights you can’t explain. Divock’s performance, Wijnaldum coming off the bench to score twice, Trent’s corner…. It’s fate. There is no other way to say it.
“I remember after we scored the first goal in the first 10 minutes, I did this crazy slide tackle on Suarez. The referee gave me a yellow but I didn’t care because the adrenaline was so high. I was reacting to the energy from the crowd and they were responding to us. Everyone was on fire. Every player and every fan.
“After the second goal, you could tell Barcelona really felt it. And the third came less than two minutes after. I looked at the clock like, Oh, we’ve done it too early. Now, they’re going to attack us.…
“When the fourth went in, I wasn’t really paying attention. I was back near the halfway line. Everything happened so fast. I just saw Divock celebrate and all the confusion. I was waiting for the referee and the linesman to do something but no one did.
“I remember everybody laughing and not even really celebrating — we couldn’t believe we scored that way. 4–0!!!”
READ NEXT:
