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His influence is rarely seen beyond the confines of Melwood, but Pep Lijnders is one of the most important people behind the rise of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

If the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are Klopp's most trusted lieutenants on the field, Lijnders is the Sergeant Major, ensuring no stone is left unturned in the Reds' pursuit of glory.

This year's attempt is extending deep into the spring, with Liverpool still on course for what would be a remarkable Champions League and Premier League double.

If the Reds are to secure either their 19th league crown or sixth European Cup this term, much of that success will be down to the painstaking work and attention to detail of their Dutch assistant boss.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

His name has been connected to Liverpool since 2014, but just how has the 36-year-old risen to the ranks of Klopp's professional confidant so quickly?

Lijnders' arrival at Melwood preceded Klopp's by over a year with the highly-rated Dutchman joining Liverpool in the summer of 2014 after a seven-year spell as academy coach with Porto in Portugal.

After five years with Dutch giants PSV, Lijnders was tasked with reshaping the Portuguese club's academy upon his arrival and left Estadio do Dragao as one of the most promising young coaches in Europe.

“They approached me from PSV to restructure their academy," Lijnders told the ECHO this week . "Without speaking the same language, we understood each other.

"I signed a one-year deal but after six months we extended it by another three years. It was a beautiful time.

“I delivered three sessions a day and in between I had three hours of Portuguese lessons. The sessions were with only one goal - offensive aggression, create to score."

Lijnders initially took charge of Liverpool's Under-16 side and immediately impressed, moving into a role as first-team coach in the summer of 2015.

He replaced Mike Marsh after his departure and his importance only grew after Klopp was installed as manager in October that year.

While Klopp has worked with Peter Krawietz and Zeljko Buvac since 2001, his working relationship with Lijnders is a relatively new one.

Lijnders spent less than three years at Anfield with the German before leaving in January 2018 to take up a managerial post at NEC Nijmegen in his homeland.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"I could write for hours thanking the people at Liverpool who have helped me since I came here and the decision to leave has not been easy," he said after leaving the club.

It would be a short-lived experiment. Buvac's (unofficial) departure just three months later left Klopp short of a right-hand man and after his stint as manager failed to catch fire, Lijnders returned to Melwood in June.

A failure to achieve promotion to the Eredivisie led to Lijnders' sacking and his sudden availability left Klopp with a no-brainer of a decision .

Klopp said: "We sent him away for half a year to get very important experience and to have him back now feels just fantastic.

“When he came in the building, everybody was really delighted about that and was really happy about it.

"He’s a fantastic person and a fantastic coach, so it’s really important that we have him back and I’m really looking forward to working together with him."

Working closely alongside Krawietz - the man Klopp famously dubbed 'The Eye' - Lijnders oversees the technical details at the club on a day-to-day basis thriving with the trust afforded to him by his boss.

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The former Porto coach now liaises closely with Liverpool's head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer, with a constant cycle of reviewing, studying and planning ensuring the players are as prepared as possible for every single game.

“I don’t live on a normal Monday or Tuesday, but on a matchday -1 or -3. It’s madness," he admits.

Madness it may be, but Lijnders is the mastermind who is helping Liverpool thrive in such chaos as they close in what could be Anfield history.