HonoursUEFA Super Cup

The fixture serves as an annual curtain-raiser for continental competitions, and currently pits the winners of the Champions League against the Europa League holders in a one-off tie.

The Reds first got their hands on the trophy on December 6, 1977, when Bob Paisley’s side – seven months after hoisting aloft the European Cup – sealed a two-legged success over Hamburg.

The German outfit – whom Kevin Keegan had departed Anfield to join the preceding summer – took a lead in the opening leg on home soil, but David Fairclough’s equaliser saw it end 1-1.

And back on Merseyside for the return, Liverpool were irrepressible.

A Terry McDermott hat-trick, delivered in 16 minutes either side of the interval, was the centrepiece of a 6-0 rout that also included Phil Thompson, Fairclough and Kenny Dalglish on the scoresheet.

It would be a while before they won it again, however, with the Reds beaten in the editions of 1978-79 (4-3 on aggregate against Anderlecht) and 1984-85 (2-0 against Juventus).

Indeed, it was as UEFA Cup winners 24 years later that Gerard Houllier’s men secured the Super Cup by defeating Bayern Munich 3-2 in a thriller on August 24, 2001.

At Monaco’s Stade Louis II, Liverpool surged into a three-goal lead by the 46th minute through efforts from John Arne Riise, Emile Heskey and Michael Owen.

They still had to hold off a late comeback by Bayern but did so successfully to return the club’s name to the winners list.

The honour was claimed for a third time on August 26, 2005 under Rafael Benitez, whose Champions League heroes went on to overcome CSKA Moscow 3-1 back at Stade Louis II.

It seemed the Reds were going to be denied when, with 10 minutes remaining, CSKA still led 1-0 – but substitute Djibril Cisse equalised, put Liverpool ahead in extra-time and then set up Luis Garcia to seal victory.

Most recently, under Jürgen Klopp the Reds followed up their Champions League triumph in Madrid with Super Cup success on August 14, 2019.

In an all-English affair that year with Chelsea their opponents, the game ended 2-2 after extra-time in Istanbul – Sadio Mane scoring both of Liverpool’s goals. And Klopp’s team kept their cool in the shootout, converting all of their penalty kicks to win 5-4.