Jurgen Klopp has demanded Liverpool overcome their bitter disappointment and be ready to attack the week that will define their season.
Liverpool were eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday night, going out after failing to put Real Madrid under any significant pressure. A late goal from Karim Benzema gave the Spanish giants a 1-0 win, supplementing their 5-2 rout on Merseyside, to reach the quarter-finals.
Klopp’s side do not have a game now until after the international break but, when they return, they face trips to Manchester City and Chelsea as well as hosting Arsenal. It is a sequence of games that will determine whether Liverpool will qualify for the Champions League next year.
A dejected Klopp admitted: ‘With the history we have in this competition, we start usually in the competition with the idea of winning it, to be honest.
‘We reached a few times the final, we didn’t the final often that’s true but we were there three times in the last few years.
‘That’s why I really believe if you want to win the competition, you have to be outstanding. And we weren’t tonight and that’s fair why we go out. But it’s THE competition and we want to be a part of it every year, and that’s now a massive task for us. We all know that.
‘When we come back from the international break we have a proper football week ahead of us, I would say, with three games – City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
‘They will probably define where we get out of it.
‘People might say we lost it at Bournemouth but I think this week is a pretty decisive one.’
Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League in each of Klopp’s six full seasons in charge but their inconsistency has been horrible so far and they never really threatened to give Madrid the uncomfortable night that would have created history.
There was a poignant end to the night, with Real Madrid playing You’ll Never Walk Alone after the final whistle out of respect.
It meant a lot to Klopp, who was frustrated that things didn’t fall into place for his team.
‘I was not angry after the game, I was disappointed,’ he added.
‘I would be angry if we would have played better and it was close and they won because of a penalty which isn’t a penalty or things like that, but in the end that all didn’t happen.
‘Real Madrid was just the better side. I’m long enough in the business to respect that.
‘We are two heavyweights who meet each other quite frequently in international competition and it’s clear we respect each other a lot and however did something like that, it was a really nice gesture I have to say.’
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
