Jurgen Klopp urged his players to take their frustrations out on Real Madrid and finish the season on a high note by winning the Champions League.
Liverpool’s manager was unmistakably depressed after his team’s attempt to wrestle the Premier League away from Manchester City was unsuccessful, despite a 3-1 victory over Wolves on the final day.
It was not one of Liverpool’s best performances, in which they tried countlessly to win with little success until in the late minutes of the second half. The amount of energy Liverpool’s players had to pour into the game makes many to wonder whether they would have the mental strength to handle the UEFA Champions League final on May 28.
But Klopp is adamant that Liverpool has the stamina for one more push in what will be the 63rd game of a season in which they have already won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
“This season has been absolutely incredible, and it doesn’t end here; it ends next week,” Jurgen Klopp said. “We are going to try everything. It has never happened before that you are completely knocked out going into a final. Of course, we had our setbacks. It’s difficult, as you can see here, and the early goal didn’t help us.
“Who cares in the end? When you win the game, that’s the end of it. We now have five days to prepare for the final, which we will do. Then we have to deal with an extremely experienced team, which is perfectly fine. Of course, losing the league heightens the desire to make amends the following week. Yes, it does increase desire.
On the matches that took place on the final day of this season’s Premier League campaign, Klopp said: “The atmosphere in the stands as it appeared that City had collapsed was unlike anything witnessed in the last 30 years as news of each Aston Villa goal spread like wildfire.
“There was one moment when it was 3-2 and then, for a split second, I don’t know who started it, I thought (Villa) had equalized again. It was a good moment, but it only lasted a second before everyone said, Nah, nothing happened!
“I’d have preferred it if City had been 5-0 up after 10 minutes, and then we could have played the game and everything would have been fine. But the season was so close, so tight, with moments, decisions, and the like.
“I learned in life that if you stay on track and keep going, you will be rewarded. Not today, but we will receive the maximum reward. But it is up to us to continue. That is exactly what we will do. In any other era.
“There could have been worse scenarios; we could have been a point up and not made it. That could be even worse. Aside from that, it’s uncool. However, it is not entirely unexpected. Man City, congratulations. All of the staff and players, and the entire club, deserve to be champions. We were close, but not close enough. That’s the way it is.”
