MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Liverpool coach, Jürgen Klopp, was “very happy” after reaching the final of the ‘Champions’, his third with the English team after eliminating Villarreal, and gave his rival a lot of credit after a “sensational” first half “.
“It is exceptional to return to the final although it is true that we made it quite difficult for ourselves. We knew before the game that this type of thing could happen,” he said after being 2-0 at half-time. “But in life it’s always about how you react when things don’t go your way,” he told BT Sport.
“A goal conceded after two or three minutes is obviously the opposite of what we wanted. I respect Villarreal, the team, the coach, it’s incredible what they achieved. They put us under pressure, man to man all over the field, it was sensational for their part. We don’t play football at all,” acknowledged the German coach.
Then, Klopp revealed his talk at halftime. “I told the guys ‘you have momentum but you don’t have it, we can get it back’. We had to play in the spaces and force our way into a second half that didn’t start well,” he analyzed.
“Suddenly, when we broke lines and found spaces and were more flexible and not fixed in positions, we were back in the game, we scored three goals and we did our best. At the break we realized that what was happening was wrong.”
“We hadn’t had a situation to show our football. If Villarreal played the second half like they played the first and we had done the same, they would be in the final. But we’re still here, so I think we could try and this was the what we did,” he snapped.
About his rival in the final, Manchester City or Real Madrid, the ‘red’ coach did not show his preference. “Yes, I will see the other semi-final. Whoever it is, it will be huge. Whoever wins this Wednesday will enjoy it and then they will face us in Paris,” he concluded.