Uruguayan club Liverpool become champions for the first time

Liverpool lift the Clausura title.
Liverpool lift the Clausura title.

Liverpool Fútbol Club - a small club in Montevideo, Uruguay - lifted the Clausara title for the first time in their 106 year history last night, following a 4-0 away victory over Nacional.

The recent success is no doubt the greatest achievement in the club's history to date. Prior to the win, they had only ever lifted one top-flight trophy, the Torneo Intermedio, in 2019.

Like the majority of the world, Uruguayan football has been largely affected by the outbreak of coronavirus. This means that although the year is 2021, their football calendar is still lagging behind as clubs are playing the 2020 Clausura.

This has resulted in both the English and the Uruguayan Liverpool being champions of their domestic leagues in the same year for the first time.

In England, Liverpool Football Club romped their way to a first league title in 30 years in the 2020 Premier League season by a staggering 18 points.

Although there is no official connection between the two clubs, Liverpool do have a Uruguayan history of their own.

Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez scored 82 times for the club, as well as picking up several individual accolades. Uruguayan centre-back Sebastián Coates is most remembered for his stunning goal against Queens Park Rangers.

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Season not yet over for Liverpool

The season is still not over for Liverpool, however, as their attention now turns to the Championship. They take on Apatura winner Rentistas in a two-legged semi-final.

The winner of that tie will go on to play Nacional (1st place in the aggregate table) in the final to determine the overall champion of the 2020 campaign.

Ignacio Ramírez, one of the club's youth academy products, has played a pivotal part in their success. He has scored 11 times in 14 matches and shown that developing talent of your own can reap rewards.

Ramirez has played for Uruguay at Under 23s level and his recent form could earn him a call up to the Uruguayan national squad.

Liverpool's squad features just two players playing outside of Uruguay, Clementino González (Paraguay) and Andrés Mehring (Argentina).

In Europe's top leagues, the idea of a club winning a league title with the majority of the players coming from their own country seems impossible in the current era.

But in South America, this is common because a lot of the clubs nurture the l talent to promote them into their first team squads. This also helps them generate revenue through transfers of these players to clubs in Europe, Asia, and recently, to MLS clubs in the United States.

Liverpool's 40-year-old coach, Marcelo Méndez shed tears of joy moments after securing the title.

The Uruguayan club may not have the greatest history, but in recent years they have been slowly rising up the ranks in Uruguay and will be hoping to add some more silverware to their mantlepiece in the weeks to come.

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Edited by Rohit Mishra