“It’s difficult today, to be honest. Benfica had a really good match plan and were fighting for their lives. The first half was fine from us, then we got the goal because we opened the door to Benfica a bit,” said the Liverpool coach on “Amazon”.
“The atmosphere was generally really good, even better after the goal for Benfica. We were able to cool it down a bit with our substitutions. The third goal helped us a lot and we had chances to score more,” said Klopp.
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Ultimately, goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos was “probably the best Benfica player”. “That actually says a lot,” summed up Klopp.
Jürgen Klopp railed against journalists: “God in heaven”
His players still had to suffer from time to time, because the opponents had a lot more on them than the English media had given them credit for.
“I’m not completely nuts and I think we have to get rid of Benfica here. Before the game, an English colleague asked me how happy I would be if we could have a very quiet second leg next week. Good heavens! That’s Champions League League quarter-finals. Benfica wasn’t drawn in there, but survived a super difficult group and eliminated one of the most exciting teams in Europe with Ajax Amsterdam,” said Klopp.
Despite the two-goal lead, his team is by no means through. Klopp: “It’s not over yet. It’s only halftime. Benfica also won in Amsterdam.”
Special praise for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Díaz
Klopp was particularly impressed by two players. “The way Trent Alexander-Arnold prepares the second goal is crazy. I often don’t know how he recognizes these things,” said the coach.
And when asked about the performance of Luis Díaz, the scorer to 3-1, Klopp just gushed: “He’s a top-top player. He’s world-class. It’s a pleasure for me every day to be with Luis and I’m more than happy that we decided to sign him in January.”
Before next Wednesday the semi-finals are to be made clear, Liverpool FC are due to face Manchester City in the Premier League. “I haven’t thought about the City game for a second, nor have I set up after it. Absolutely not. We’re in the quarter-finals of the Champions League here,” said Klopp.
From now on, only City counts. “If we win against City, which is really difficult, then nothing will be decided. We’ll try anyway,” said Klopp.
Curious game plan: Benfica, City, Benfica, City in twelve days
Liverpool FC can really clear up until May 28th, the day of the Champions League final in Paris. Winning the League Cup means one title is in the bag, it could be four.
“We’ve created a great starting position, it couldn’t be better. But it couldn’t be harder for us now. All the games will be incredibly difficult now. But we have big plans and now we’re just going game by game. And maybe a little bit more is possible,” said Klopp.
The game plan is quite strange. First Benfica, then City, then Benfica and then City again in the FA Cup semifinals. On April 16, Jürgen Klopp should be a bit smarter as to whether the four possible titles are still there.
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