Liverpool beat LASK 3-1 in their opening group stage game, helping Jurgen Klopp set a club record
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp set a unique record on Thursday night, as the Reds beat Austrian side LASK 3-1 in the Europa League.
The group stage win saw Klopp reach 50 wins in Europe with Liverpool, becoming the first manager in the club's history to reach the milestone. Klopp has therefore now surpassed 2005 Champions League-winning boss Rafael Benitez, who has 49 wins on his record.
Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah all scored in the second half of the game against LASK to hand Liverpool the victory, as they fought back from 1-0 down.
Liverpool made plenty of changes for the game (Image credit: Getty Images)
Klopp, though, isn't too concerned with the record, suggesting his main focus is progressing from the Europa League group stages, with games against Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise still to come.
“Let me say it like this," Klopp said after the game, "if I still have 50 after the group stage, then even if I’ve still got the most wins in Europe as a Liverpool manager then everybody will hate that!
"We played quite a lot of games in Europe. It’s good that we won that many, we qualified frequently for finals so of course we should have won games. 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 it."
Benitez won 49 European games during his time in charge (Image credit: PA)
Liverpool are, unsurprisingly, the favourites to win the Europa League this season, due to their strong start in the Premier League and revitalised squad under the German manager.
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Their progress in the competition could depend on which Champions League sides drop down, however, with third-placed sides in Europe's premier competition entering into a play-off round against teams which finish second in their Europa League groups.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
