• 9 months ago
Liverpool star Darwin Nunez showed no sign of being too injured as he vaulted two barriers to celebrate Virgil van Dijk's Carabao Cup final winner.

The Uruguayan forward missed the Wembley showpiece with Chelsea after suffering a muscle injury but watched on from a seat just behind the Liverpool bench.

When Van Dijk headed Jurgen Klopp's side to victory with just two minutes of extra time remaining, Nunez found himself amid wild touchline celebrations.

Fighting his way through a scrum of teammates on a stairway, he charged towards the pitch and effortlessly jumped over a metal barrier before stepping over the advertising hoarding too.

Once on the sideline, Nunez performed some fist pumps before hugging more team-mates, with manager Klopp also in the thick of it.

Nunez, 24, has missed Liverpool's last two games after the injury setback and is one of 11 senior stars now out injured.

He was later spotted posing with the trophy in Liverpool's celebrations as they won what they hope is the first of four in Klopp's farewell season.

The Reds top the Premier League table by a point from Manchester City, pick up their FA Cup campaign against Southampton in the fifth round on Wednesday and continue in the UEFA Europa League against Sparta Prague next month.

But their injury problems continue to mount with Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo added to their worries.

Gravenberch was taken off by stretcher in the first half after a hefty challenge by Moises Caicedo.

Endo then left Wembley with the aid of crutches and wearing a protective boot on his left foot, having played the whole 120 minutes.

Klopp said the intense final had taken a lot out of Endo: 'He walked through the ceremony with the stiffest legs I ever saw.'

Liverpool will now hope that Endo's injury is not too serious as they prepare to face a busy period of fixtures over the coming weeks.

Klopp's side is back in action against Southampton in the FA Cup on Wednesday night, and they have three more games across the next two weeks against Nottingham Forest, Sparta Prague, and Manchester City.

Liverpool is also currently without Joel Matip, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Thiago Alcantara.

Liverpool was heavily reliant on their academy in the latter stages at Wembley, with Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark, James McConnell, and Jarell Quansah all coming off the bench to star.

Van Dijk, who earlier saw a headed goal disallowed for offside, popped up to win the game in the 118th minute.

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