Always dreamed of this: Henderson after lifting Premier League trophy

Liverpool, July 23 (IANS): Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson relished the feeling of lifting the Premier League trophy as he completed a lifelong dream on Wednesday night after their 5-3 win over Chelsea.

Naby Keita, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Georginio Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all scored goals for the Reds against Chelsea in what turned out to be a goalfest at Anfield.

Henderson climbed the podium on the Kop to receive trophy and officially end the club’s 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England again.

“We’ve been waiting a long time, like I said before the game. The build-up to it, walking up there was amazing. Like I said, the lads deserved the moment tonight. The families were up there watching, which was a big thing for us as a team. It’s been an amazing season and to crown it off like that was really special,” Henderson was quoted as saying by the official club website while speaking in a post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“I always dreamed, you know. The Premier League has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and that was one of the reasons why I wanted to come to Liverpool – you want to win trophies and the expectations are so high. But when you come as a young player, it’s so difficult.

“It’s been a process, a journey and it hasn’t happened overnight. Over the past five years since the gaffer came in, it’s been a process, a journey and every single player has been a part of that journey.

“To finish the season off like this has been really special. We can enjoy tonight but, after this, next season is going to be a big challenge for us. I thought tonight we showed the mentality again to come and perform like we did, and get the result we did,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp said he was very proud of the team on their feat, especially for their emphatic win over Chelsea. “I couldn’t be more proud of them throwing in a performance like this tonight on the pitch in an open game, obviously, but nice, nice goals. Incredible goals, super football in moments and I loved the game so we could enjoy so far and will enjoy the rest of the night,” he said in the post-match press conference.

On the trophy presentation, the manager said: ” was never on the Kop before, it was pretty special and I think it makes sense in the moment when the people are not in that we use the Kop to celebrate it with them together in our hearts. It was really good.”