FeatureClassic Match: Dalglish's Reds peak in a perfect Anfield performance

“It was the finest exhibition I’ve seen the whole time I’ve played and watched the game. You couldn’t see it bettered anywhere, not even in Brazil. The moves they put together were fantastic.”

The words of Sir Tom Finney, a legendary player so revered by Bill Shankly who had witnessed one of the great Liverpool teams peak in producing 90 minutes of perfection at Anfield.

April 13, 1988: Liverpool 5-0 Nottingham Forest.

Kenny Dalglish’s 1987-88 Reds vintage was a thing of beauty; a side whose substance was surpassed only by their style.

And this extraordinary evening is widely acknowledged to be their zenith: an awesome, season-defining display that rendered the opposition mere bystanders to their brilliance.

Ray Houghton, John Aldridge (two), Gary Gillespie and Peter Beardsley got the goals, but the irresistible John Barnes was perhaps Forest’s tormentor-in-chief.

Liverpool’s march to the First Division title had appeared inexorable since the early weeks of the campaign and this win left them 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester United, with two games in hand and only six matches left to play.

Forest, who were still fifth in the standings after this demolition, simply had no answer to the champions-in-waiting.

Enjoy the best bits of an iconic Liverpool performance in the video above - and don't miss Games of our Lives: Better Than Brazil, a new LFCTV original film on the match.