Klopp and Liverpool Wary of Barca-Like Comeback

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes that his team are not guaranteed a place in the Champions League final. The Premier League side were leading 5-0 against Roma in the first leg of the semi-final before conceding two away goals. Egyptian player Mohamed Salah was the hero of the day with a first-half brace. He even produced two assists after half-time.

But, once Salah was benched, Roma regained some confidence and scored 2 late away goals. 

“I learned tonight we can still win in Rome, they need to score against us,” Klopp said a post-match news conference. “We are not Barcelona, they are one of the best two or three teams in the world and won so many things – we didn’t. We will fight with all we have.

“It’s much better than I expected before the game but already I’m more interested in the Stoke game than the second leg against Roma.

“The atmosphere tonight was absolutely outstanding and everyone who has a ticket I expect the same on Saturday [at home against Stoke City], because we need it.

“It’s a massive game, we need to be ready, we will try everything we can to be ready for that.”

Liverpool were dealt a blow, courtesy an injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“To be honest the biggest blow in the dressing room is [Oxlade-Chamberlain’s] injury. Conceding two goals is not what we want but we can’t change it, that’s football,” Klopp said.

“The boys played a brilliant game over a very long period and even in the last few minutes when we conceded – Dejan [Lovren] played a world-class game but he misjudged a ball, usually it’s no problem if the full-back is in the right position.

“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is in the wrong position, but they won all the balls before. They get in a good position and can score. We made one mistake, the referee made one mistake [for the penalty], two goals for them, that’s how it is.”