Frank Lampard left ’embarrassed’ after interrupting Liverpool’s special night with ‘arrogant’ x-rated rant

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Liverpool beat Chelsea 5-3 on this day in 2020 and lifted the Premier League trophy – but Frank Lampard was left fuming

Liverpool fans had been made to wait 30 years but on 22 July 2020, they saw Jordan Henderson lift the Premier League trophy.

The Reds had been confirmed as Champions almost a month before but it wasn’t until the last home game of the season against Chelsea that they could finally get their hands on a winners’ medal.

Yet, the biggest talking point to come out of the somewhat bizarre 5-3 thriller was a touchline spat between Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, putting a unique twist on what was a special day for the club.

Jurgen Klopp’s side began in the sauntering style of champions, with Naby Keita thundering the ball beyond Kepa Arizzabalaga and into the top corner from outside the box.

Trent Alexander-Arnold then doubled the team’s lead 15 minutes later from a free-kick, delivering what felt like an inevitable curling finish into the corner.

But it was the foul that led to the second goal which caused Lampard to become irate on the sideline, convinced that Mateo Kovacic shouldn’t have been penalised for his challenge on Sadio Mane.

Lampard could be seen mouthing a few four-letter words in the direction of Klopp and Pep Lijnders with The Mirror quoting him as also saying, “”One title you’ve won and you’re f*****g giving it the big ‘un.”

Klopp maintained his composure, instructing the Chelsea legend to “calm down, calm down”, but his opposite number could still be seen accusing him of “total disrespect”.

The game continued at pace, in the meantime, with Gini Wijnaldum putting the home side 3-0 up before Olivier Giroud pulled a goal back before half-time.

Roberto Firmino met a delicious cross from Alexander-Arnold to seemingly put the game beyond doubt, before Chelsea staged a late comeback through Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then grabbed Liverpool’s final goal to complete an impressive performance.

Despite the hostility between the two benches, Klopp had some wise words for his staff, just before the final whistle.

“Enjoy this moment,” he shouted. “This is a very special night.”

However, the war of words between Klopp and Lampard was far from over.

Tensions had been running high in the Chelsea camp heading into the penultimate game of the season. The London side still needed a point to confirm their place in the top four and were made to wait until the final day after the 5-3 result at Anfield.

In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Lampard said, “Fair play to Liverpool Football Club, they’ve won the league, but also don’t get too arrogant with it. That was my point, but it’s done. In match play, you can get emotional and that was it.”

Fireworks were going off all around the city, as well as on touchline, as the day Liverpool fans had been waiting for finally arrived.

Whether taking to the streets or celebrating at home, the image of Jordan Henderson lifting the trophy will be one that replays in fans’ minds for years to come.

Unaware of Lampard’s post-match comments, as he finally got his hands on the prize that the club had coveted for so long, Klopp made it clear in his final pre-match press conference of the season that the Chelsea manager had crossed the line.

“You cannot hit me or my bench with something like that – we are not arrogant,” the German boss said.

“Frank was obviously in a really competitive mood, I respect that. From my point of view you can say what you want in that situation, pure emotion, he came to win or get a point and make Champions League qualification happen.

“What he needs to learn is to finish it at the final whistle and he didn’t do that. Speaking afterwards about it like this is not okay. Frank has to learn, he has a lot of time to learn as he is a young coach, but he has to learn.

“We are ourselves, during the game the words he used were not a problem at all but final whistle, as a real sportsperson, close the book and he didn’t do that and that is what I don’t like, honestly.”

It wasn’t the first time in the season that Lampard, who was a key player under Jose Mourinho during the two clubs’ rivalry during the mid-2000’s, disagreed with the German manager.

Lampard had been quick shake off Klopp’s suggestion that Chelsea “looked like favourites” to win the title in December due to the size and quality of their squad, in what was an injury-ravaged season for the Reds.

“The realism is we are not a Liverpool of last year or a Manchester City of the year before where you can just go out and win, win, win, win, win”, the Chelsea boss said.

“Everyone was talking about us going on a great run and we should win the league.

“Part of my reasoning to dampen that was other teams have probably been together longer and built for longer which builds confidence within the group of players that they can deal with things better in games.”

Fast forward to September, and with Klopp having handled the situation expertly, Lampard was keen to make amends with the Liverpool boss on the eve of last season.

Speaking on The High Performance podcast about the incident he said, “I did regret that.

“And when that broke the next day – I clearly felt it as I was doing it – but when it broke the next day and a friend of mine sent it to me in the morning, I was a bit embarrassed by it.

He continued: “My feeling was, I want to be there where they are.

“I definitely didn’t mean any disrespect to Jurgen Klopp, because I’ve got huge admiration for them. But what I felt had gone on, it was an impulse reaction, which I will happily – when I do see him, I’ll put that one right.”

A year on, and it’s certainly an eyebrow-raising sequence of events that provide an interesting footnote to what was a momentous day.