It was a day which left the red half of Merseyside fuming: the loss of an irreplaceable defensive talisman and the trigger for the derailment of Liverpool's Premier League title defence.
Minutes into last season's derby between Everton and Liverpool, Jordan Pickford mistimed a challenge at the back post and clattered into Virgil van Dijk's right knee, leaving the usual unflappable Dutchman in severe pain.
It was a season-ending blow, not just to Van Dijk but the team he marshals so exquisitely. Tonight, the centre back returns to Goodison Park fully fit and firing again, as he looks to spearhead another Reds title charge this season.
Jordan Pickford clattered into Virgil van Dijk last October, resulting in a season-ending injury
The Liverpool centre back underwent surgery in the days that followed on a cruel ACL blow
It marks the end of a 13-month journey which began with the dramatic end of Van Dijk's meteoric progress - he reached the point where he was seven votes shy of winning the 2019 Ballon d'Or - due to a moment of thoughtlessness which went unpunished.
Pickford was never penalised for the blow. VAR, bizarrely, opted not to give a penalty or a red card for the Everton keeper's back-post tackle following an early set-piece.
Not one to go down easily, an anguished look from Van Dijk told the story straight away. He left the pitch of his own accord but the early indications were not good.
He knew. And so did Jurgen Klopp when he encountered him on the touchline.
In the weeks that followed, the Holland captain underwent successful surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament damage in his right knee. And so began a long recovery process which would see Van Dijk, in all probability, miss the rest of the 2020-21 campaign.
Jurgen Klopp could tell from the cold look on Van Dijk's face that the injury was serious
With Thiago also suffering an injury later on in the game - Richarlison was punished and sent off for this tackle - Klopp described Everton's tackling as 'completely unacceptable' and accused the Toffees of 'taking it way too far.'
'A few days ago something that should not have happened in a football game, happened,' an angry Klopp insisted in the aftermath.
'It was not the first time and it won't be the last, but both challenges were difficult to accept. As a human, I don't want to see Everton players punished, but we all agree if you do something wrong, you have to deal with consequences.'
Despite an appeal, Pickford and Everton escaped punishment.
As for Van Dijk, despite the mammoth setback, he quickly got down to work in a long and arduous rehab. He was back at the club's Kirkby training ground by December, and posted on his Instagram riding a bike in the gym before 2020 was out.
The Dutchman was back on a bike in the gym by December as he started his long rehabilitation
His ambitious target here was to be fit for Holland's Euro 2020 campaign, their first major tournament since finishing third at the 2014 World Cup.
Van Dijk was back running on the
