Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp labelled the Reds' triumph in the 2023-24 EFL Cup the "most special" trophy of his managerial career following his side's riveting 1-0 success over Chelsea at Wembley.
The Merseyside giants emerged onto the Wembley turf with a double-figure list of absentees, as none of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez nor Dominik Szoboszlai were deemed fit to face the Blues.
Liverpool nevertheless took the game by the scruff of the neck in the first half, although their injury crisis worsened when Ryan Gravenberch was taken off on a stretcher owing to a nasty tackle from Moises Caicedo.
Chelsea soon began to get a foothold in the game and had a Raheem Sterling strike ruled out for offside before the half-time whistle sounded, and Liverpool then thought that they had taken the lead through a Virgil van Dijk effort.
However, Wataru Endo was offside as the ball was swung in to the box and was subsequently seen blocking off Levi Colwill, thus leading to the goal being controversially disallowed as extra time loomed.
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With so few senior options on the bench, Klopp sent on the likes of Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns and James McConnell to reinforce his ranks, and a team comprising multi-million pound experience and a handful of novices often looked the more likely to score.
A 118th-minute corner in front of the Liverpool end would provide the magical moment, as Van Dijk made an excellent run to the near post and directed a smart header across goal and into the far corner before being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates.
Klopp's crop held out in the short time that remained to clinch the first domestic prize of the season - marking their record-extending 10th success in the EFL Cup - and keep the quadruple dream alive in the German's farewell campaign.
The former Borussia Dortmund head coach has now won eight major honours with Liverpool, but despite also boasting Champions League and Premier League medals, the 56-year-old told reporters that nothing can currently top Sunday's "special" triumph.
"What we see here today is so exceptional, we might never see again and not because I am on the sideline, because these things don't happen in football," Klopp said in his post-game press conference.
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"I got told outside that there's an English phrase, 'you don't win trophies with kids' – I didn't know that. Yeah! There are longer careers than mine but in more than 20 years, [it's] easily the most special trophy I ever won. It's absolutely exceptional.
"Sometimes I get asked if I'm proud of this, proud of that, proud of that, and it's really tricky. I wish I could feel pride more often, I just don't do. Tonight there's an overwhelming feeling, 'Oh my God, what's going on here?' I was proud of everybody involved in everything here."
Asked about what winning the EFL Cup in such circumstances would do for his Liverpool "legacy", Klopp affirmed that he is not looking to leave one behind and hailed the club's supporters as a more important driving force of their lasting success.
"I couldn't care less about my legacy. I'm not here to create one. As a manager of a football club, you are there to do the job actually," Klopp added. "It's not a problem if the manager leaves or whatever, if these people would leave – our supporters – that would be a problem.
"But as long as they are the way they are, Liverpool Football Club will be fine and that's the most important thing. But for these kind of things from time to time you need something to really celebrate."
Sunday's final was not totally joyous for the Reds, though, as both Gravenberch and Wataru Endo entered the overflowing Anfield infirmary with injuries ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round clash with Southampton.
Ben Knapton
