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Dejan Lovren says his winning goal for Liverpool against Borussia Dortmund was the best moment of his career.

The Croatian defender’s stoppage-time header secured the Reds’ comeback on one of the great Anfield nights earlier this month.

Liverpool trailed 2-0 and 3-1 to a vaunted Dortmund side, but scored four second-half goals to book their place in the Europa League semi finals. They take on La Liga outfit Villarreal for a place in the final.

Lovren has endured a testing time since moving to Anfield in 2014 but, speaking to the Sunday Times, talked at length about that winning goal and what it meant to him.

“You know, when the ball was in the air and I was there, I thought ‘this is the time’” he said. “I said to myself; ‘it’s now or never.

“I don’t know… it was a relief I would say. A relief in me. Difficult to describe. Emotions. Angry. Relief. Powerful in the moment... All of those things together.

“It was everything that had happened over the last couple of months, also the last couple of years. Always the light on me. You know, to do something special… so I can say, maybe, ‘I’m sorry,’ for the beginning. So maybe the people will now say okay, we accept that.

“That moment you connect, every player needs it. I was so proud and angry, I felt I was saying, ‘yeah, that’s me, that’s the Dejan you know, who is the fighter until the end, who will never say that it’s over.’

“This is a good beginning for me, a connection with the fans and the people. One of the best days of my life was moving to Liverpool but the goal is the best moment of my career, to be honest.”

Lovren, of course, now assumes extra responsibility following news of Mamadou Sakho’s possible anti-doping violation. The 26-year-old will marshal the Liverpool defence in Villarreal as he looks to take the club to their first European final since 2007.

“I want to leave footsteps here,” he added. “I want people to be proud of me and to be able to say ‘that was Dejan, he played for us.’

“I want trophies, and I want to be thought of as a leader here. I’m still young but I’m born to be a leader.”