It started way back on 14 August 2021 with a 3-0 win at Norwich.

Two hundred and eighty seven days later, Liverpool step out for the 63rd and final time in 2021-22 looking to be crowned champions of Europe.

Record 13-time winners Real Madrid stand in the way of Jurgen Klopp's men at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.

The Reds, who fell agonisingly short in the race for the Premier League, are seeking to round off the season in style and finish with a Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup treble.

From A* pupils to life-saving surgery, NHS champions to the forward who cleaned the toilets in his local mosque the morning after scoring, these are the stories behind Klopp's Class of 2022 as Liverpool look to conquer Europe for a SEVENTH time.

Liverpool's love affair with the European Cup dates back to 1977 when they won it for the first time by defeating Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in Rome.

"For me it's the best club competition in the world," said Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

"We came from a season last year where nobody thought that we could go again like we did this season.

"This season is incredible, absolutely incredible.

"We are so incredibly close with each other and with our fans, it's a pure joy to be part of this club. It's really special."

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

Liverpool had won one major trophy in eight seasons - the League Cup in 2011-12 - when Jurgen Norbert Klopp was appointed in October 2015.

In the space of five years, Klopp had assembled a world-class team and turned the Reds into the champions of Europe (2019), the champions of the world (2019) and the champions of England (2020).

This is Liverpool's fourth European final under the charismatic German, whose leadership and management is adored by the Kop and a source of inspiration to his players.

"I could have gone to Bayern Munich a few times, where I could have won more titles in my life," said Klopp before this month's FA Cup final win over Chelsea.

"I didn’t do it. The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers. I prefer to try to win."

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Xabi Alonso, former Liverpool & Real Madrid midfielder
Speaking to BT Sport

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I love it when Jurgen Klopp says that Liverpool are ‘mentality monsters’ because to do what they are doing, it is not easy. It’s not just this year, it’s what they have been doing for the last few years and they have that mentality.

He is intense, he is very passionate and I think that one of his best qualities is that he is able to get the best from his players.

The final, it is a big one and you need to show that mentality because Real Madrid, they are the other mentality monsters so it’s a big, big clash that we are going to have.

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Klopp's talents are not limited to football management.

During his time in charge of Borussia Dortmund, if ever a club sponsor was wavering about renewing their deal, they would receive a personal call from Klopp himself.

"He is a weapon, a perfect all-rounder and he supported us in an awesome way," Carsten Cramer, head of marketing during Klopp's seven years at the club, said.

"The sponsors were so touched that the manager of Dortmund was calling them that they all extended their deals.

"He's an extraordinary person. To see how he gives hope and power not only to Liverpool Football Club but also to the city makes us very proud."

Read more about Klopp: From Black Forest to heroic status at Anfield.

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Alisson has played his part at both ends of the pitch over the past 12 months to help Liverpool reach their 10th European Cup final.

As well as keeping four clean sheets during the run to Paris, the Brazil keeper scored an incredible 95th-minute winner for a remarkable 2-1 win at West Brom on 16 May 2021.

Up until that moment the Reds were heading for the Europa League but Alisson's header from a corner changed the course of history.

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Alisson's winner against West Brom came three months after his father, Jose Agostinho Becker, died aged 57 in Brazil.

Local police inspector Doroteo Machado Filho said Becker drowned at a dam near his holiday home in Lavras do Sul.

Alisson, who was unable to attend the funeral due to coronavirus restrictions, paid tribute to his dad in an emotional interview after the West Brom game.

"I hope he was here to see it, I'm sure he is celebrating with God at his side," he said.

Image source, EPA

Since joining Liverpool from Roma in July 2018 in a deal worth up to £66.8m, Alisson has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Fifa Club World Cup.

He kept clean sheets in the 2019 Champions League final, the 2019 Club Word Cup final and the 2022 FA Cup final.

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Image source, Getty Images

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Image source, Reuters

Trent Alexander-Arnold is the local boy who has blossomed in Jurgen Klopp's team.

"I'm just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true," he said after helping the Reds defeat Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final.

Those words form part of a mural in honour of Alexander-Arnold a stone's throw from Anfield.

He has established himself as an assist king on his way to winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

And he's still only 23!

Image source, Reuters

Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool at the age of six and has not looked back since making his senior debut in October 2016 at the age of 18.

Off the pitch, he has talked about poverty and helped launch an initiative to assist children who often feel they have no hope.

"You can genuinely see so much deprivation in cities like Liverpool, whether that be with food, shelter, education or even opportunities just to play football," he wrote in the Guardian, external in May 2021.

On the pitch, Alexander-Arnold has played a key role in Jurgen Klopp's revolution.

His famous corner, external as Liverpool completed an incredible Champions League semi-final comeback against Barcelona in 2019 is part of Anfield folklore.

Alan Shearer
Former England captain on MOTD Top 10 podcast

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I was at Anfield commentating for 5 Live for the Barcelona semi-final. You could just see Trent Alexander-Arnold was three seconds ahead of everyone else. It was brilliant from him and he was too clever for Barcelona.

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"He's so good he could play for Real Madrid or Barcelona one day."

That was Ralf Rangnick's view of Ibrahima Konate, who was brought to RB Leipzig on a free from Sochaux in 2017 at the age of 18.

Five years on and the 6ft 4in defender has quickly established himself since arriving from Leipzig last summer for £35m and has played a key role in the run to the Champions League final.

Born in 1999, Konate's career started at Paris FC.

Will he be celebrating Champions League glory in the city of his birth?

Is Konate Liverpool's lucky charm?

The Reds have not lost any of the 28 league and cup games Konate has appeared in.

"Never at any moment in my life could I have imagined this," he said after helping Liverpool win the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in his first season in England.

"I knew I was joining a very big club, a club that has set out to win things, titles and trophies. But this season has been exceptional."

Image source, Rex Features

Konate is one of seven brothers and learned his trade playing with his siblings on the streets of Paris.

At the age of 15, he moved to Sochaux's academy.

Nicknamed 'Ibu' by his mum at an early age, it has stuck and caused amusement among team-mates at his former club RB Leipzig.

"The boys sometimes have a laugh with it and call me Ibuprofen," he told Bundesliga.com., external

One of the finest defenders in world football, Virgil van Dijk is hoping to appear in his third Champions League final for Liverpool.

Four months after moving to Anfield in a £75m deal in January 2018, the Netherlands international played alongside Dejan Lovren in the 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid in Kyiv.

There were happier scenes 12 months later in Madrid where Liverpool were crowned champions of Europe for a sixth time after defeating Tottenham 2-0, with Van Dijk and Joel Matip at the heart of the defence.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

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He is a colossus as far as Liverpool fans are concerned, but Van Dijk needed life-saving surgery 10 years ago after his appendix had ruptured and he was suffering from both peritonitis and a kidney infection.

"I’m not going to lie, I was pretty scared. I could have died," the former Celtic player, who was playing for Dutch club Groningen at the time, told FourFourTwo., external

“I’d been feeling pretty ill for most of the week, but then it hit me. All of a sudden, my appendix burst and it completely ruptured.

"It was very bad and the pain was terrible. I was rushed to hospital and had to have immediate surgery, because it was so serious I could have died."

Jonathan Woodgate
Former Real Madrid defender

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I think Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-back I’ve seen in my lifetime. He’s incredible. He’s the most important player in that Liverpool team. Playing against Karim Benzema is tough, but playing against Van Dijk is on another planet. He’s just outrageously good.

In 2012, Andrew Robertson was playing in the fourth-tier of Scottish football for Queen's Park.

Fast forward 10 years and the left-back is preparing for his third Champions League final in five seasons.

Like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Scotland captain Robertson has established himself as an assist king and he hopes to help the Reds avenge the 3-1 Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid in 2018.

"Look, obviously the final against Real Madrid didn't go as we wanted it to and they put us out last season as well, so since I've been here we've not managed to get one over on Real Madrid," he said.

Away from the pitch, Robertson has launched his own charity to help give children in his native Scotland a chance at a brighter future.

"The aim is to provide all young people with the opportunity for an equal start in life," said Robertson., external

"Myself and my partner Rachel have discussed setting up a charity for a while now, and being parents ourselves, we recognise how important it is to make sure children have the best possible start in life."

Robertson cost Liverpool an initial £8m - rising to £10m - when he signed from Hull City in 2017.

He has since helped the Reds win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

Bargain.

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