In six years at Anfield, Matip has won everything there is to win – including the hearts of Reds fans and teammates
There could hardly have been a more popular match-winner. As the Kop roared and as Jurgen Klopp punched the air on the sideline, Liverpool’s players mobbed their hero.
“The one and only Joel Matip!” as Virgil van Dijk put it afterwards.
He’s already a firm favourite with supporters, and even more so now, after his 89th-minute header secured a tense, hard-fought 2-1 win over Ajax in the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday night.
Given the way the Reds’ season has started, it could well prove to be the most important goal Matip has scored for the club.
In any case, it all adds to the legend. Teammates and fans love him, and no wonder.
They have plenty of reasons to…
GettyHe was Klopp's first major signing…
Klopp had only been at Anfield a couple of months when he instructed the club’s recruitment team to go after Matip, who was coming to the end of his contract with Schalke.
Liverpool’s defence at that point was built around inconsistent and/or ageing performers such as Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure, but Klopp knew that Matip, whom he had come up against plenty of times while manager of Borussia Dortmund, would bring poise and class, and that his presence would help imprint the manager’s style on the team.
He wasn’t wrong.
AdvertisementGettyHe didn't cost a penny…
What makes the Matip deal even better is that it didn’t cost Liverpool a penny, in terms of a transfer fee.
The Reds saw off plenty of competition to land their man, Matip signing a four-year deal in February 2016 before arriving on Merseyside that summer.
He would make 32 appearances in his first season at Anfield, and has since racked up a total of 171.
Decent value, you’d say.
GettyHe scores goals…
Matip’s header against Ajax took him into double figures in terms of goals scored for Liverpool, and means he has scored at least once in each of his seven seasons with the club. Only Roberto Firmino, of the current team, has matched him.
His first Reds strike came in a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace in October 2016, a trademark header from a Philippe Coutinho corner.
But he scores with his feet too, evidenced at West Ham in 2017, or in wins against Leeds and Aston Villa last season.
GettyHe assists them too…
Officially, Matip has registered six assists for Liverpool, but it’s his first one that will always live longest in the memory.
You know which one we’re talking about, right? Divock Origi may be the hero of the Reds’ 2019 Champions League triumph, but it was Matip who laid the ball off for the Belgian to secure victory over Tottenham at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium.