•The Brazilian made his 361st appearance in a red shirt and almost provided a fairy-tale finish in his final home game, scoring a last-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
•When Firmino leaves the pitch at Southampton on the final day of the season next Sunday, he will do so as one of Liverpool’s greats in the Premier League era.
Image: FILE
As chants of ‘Si Senor’ rang around Anfield on Saturday evening, Liverpool’s departing hero Roberto Firmino took time to soak in the serenading of the home crowd.
The Brazilian made his 361st appearance in a red shirt and almost provided a fairy-tale finish in his final home game, scoring a last-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
But despite 10 minutes of added time, the 31-year-old could not conjure another magical moment that would have taken the roof off the stadium.
When Firmino leaves the pitch at Southampton on the final day of the season next Sunday, he will do so as one of Liverpool’s greats in the Premier League era.
‘I will miss all of them’
“Give the ball to Bobby and he will score,” is the line in Firmino’s song that was on loop at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Monday.
He missed the 3-0 win over the Foxes, but returned from injury to appear as a 72nd-minute substitute and net in front of the Kop against Villa, bringing the curtain down at Anfield with an emotional farewell.
Liverpool’s squad went back into the dressing room after the final whistle and re-emerged to form a guard of honour, with departing players including Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner afforded a generous ovation from team-mates and fans.
But it was modern-day great Firmino who took the loudest applause, with new boy Cody Gakpo bowing down in appreciation in the line-up before the four players who are leaving in the summer were presented with a framed picture by Reds legend Sir Kenny Dalglish.
With tears filling up Firmino’s eyes, family members poured onto the pitch with children scoring goals into the open nets before embarking on a lap of appreciation.
“Both contributions of Milly (Milner) and Bobby was crazy,” manager Jurgen Klopp told BBC Sport. “We saw what we will miss. That is how it is.
“It is a story we wrote together, now we have to write a new story and they have to write a new story. We have to step up leadership-wise without Milly. “Bobby is Bobby. I will miss all of them. It is better we all feel really bad that they leave than happy.”
Signed by former Reds manager Brendan Rodgers in 2015, former Hoffenheim attacker Firmino notched his 110th Liverpool goal and 40th in the league at home against Villa.
He will leave as one of only three Liverpool players with 100 or more goal involvements, including 50 or more assists in the Premier League, behind Mohamed Salah and Steven Gerrard.
Firmino won the lot at Liverpool, including Champions League glory in 2019 and helping to end the club’s 30-year top-flight title drought in 2020. “Not only Bobby, I will miss each and every one of them,” defender Virgil van Dijk told BBC Sport.
“They have played their part and been successful, they contributed in their own way.
“Bobby has been a very big part of the goals and assists together with Sadio (Mane) and Mo. They create the headline but what the other three have done should not go unnoticed and that is why they are respected within the group and by Liverpool fans.”