Sports

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will make UCL last-16 if they ‘stay

386

By Glen Price—-Jurgen Klopp is still confident Liverpool will reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League despite their 1-1 draw with Spartak Moscow on Tuesday night.

Liverpool were held to another frustrating draw to leave them with two points after as many group matches, wasting a number of golden chances to pick up a win at the Otkrytie Arena.

Spartak’s Fernando put the hosts into the lead from a long-range free kick in the 23rd minute before Philippe Coutinho netted an equaliser eight minutes later.

When asked at his postmatch news conference whether he has seen enough from his team to give him confidence that they will go through to the last 16, Klopp replied: “Yes, of course I have seen enough.

“We know more about the two teams now, we were in both games the better side. We know Moscow have a lot of injury problems tonight, for sure Quincy Promes will be back for the next game and a few other players, really good players, so that will change their game also.

“But what is confidence? In football you can never be sure. Yes, we are strong enough to go through this group, but we have to do it; when the door is open, you still have to walk through it and the door is not even open, we can [just] see a little bit of light in behind.

“But we will be ready to go through because the boys really work hard. You can see that they really want [it]. Stay cool, carry on, work hard and you will succeed in the end.”

Klopp criticised the referee’s decision to award Spartak the free kick that led to the opener after Coutinho was adjudged to have upended Aleksandr Samedov.

While the Liverpool manager does not believe his side are benefiting from good fortune, he insists the number of opportunities they created is one positive to take from the game.

“We, in this moment, are not the luckiest team in world football, so it’s not that things go easy for us,” Klopp added. “We did really well in creating chances against a very defence-orientated team.

“We didn’t give a lot of chances away for them; the free kick they scored with was not a foul, so it’s difficult to change this. In defending if you win the ball clear and there’s still a whistle it’s difficult, but it was a brilliant free-kick.

“We made our equaliser, we scored and we could have created even more chances, that’s the crazy thing. We did enough and we had four or five 100-percent chances and that’s then disappointing, but it is like it is.

“In the Champions League in the group stage the only target you have is to go through the group to the next round, and that’s still possible for us.

“We know now more about two teams in the group and both games we could have, or should have, won but we didn’t. In the end, that’s always our fault, but we will carry on and carry on like this, or even better.

“I saw a lot of good things tonight, it was not a perfect game, but there were a lot of good things.”

Meanwhile, Reds captain Jordan Henderson believes he and his teammates should be coming away from Russia with three points, adding that they need to become more “ruthless.”

“It’s disappointing,” he told BT Sport postmatch. “We controlled the game from start to finish, so should win the game comfortably.

“We’re disappointed. The chances we had, we’ve got to win the game comfortably there.

“We’ve got to make sure we don’t give goals away, first and foremost, and then the worst-case scenario is it would be 1-0 to us. We’ve got to just keep going.

“On another day, it could have been three or four. We could have had a penalty as well on [Mohamed] Salah. Overall, the performance was decent but not enough to win the game.

“I thought we defended well for the majority of the game and created chances — but we’ve just got to finish teams off and be more ruthless.”

Meanwhile, Spartak coach Massimo Carrera, whose team sit third in Group E, was pleased with the result.

“We played a great game against a very good team. I don’t have any complaints about my team’s performance. I just want to praise everyone,” he said.

“Am I happy with the result? Yes, we got a draw against a very good team.”

Leave a comment

Related Articles

Olopade assumes office as NSC DG, promises new lease of life for Nigerian sports

Bukola Olopade had assumed office as the Director General of the resuscitated...

Nigeria’s Super Falcons Ajibade, Nnadozie, Nominated for 2024 CAF Women’s Player of the Year

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the nominees for the...

AFCON Qualifier: Nigeria’s Super Eagles Suffer Shocking 2-1 Loss to Rwanda

Nigeria’s Super Eagles concluded their Africa Cup of Nations Group D qualifiers...

Gusau Hails Edo Queens CAF Women’s Champions League Semifinal Feat

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Musa Gusau has praised Edo Queens’...

Exclusive: Super Eagles’ Road to Morocco 2025 was Turbulent—Team Coordinator

Nigeria’s Super Eagles secured their spot in the 2025 African Cup of...

Just in: Nigeria qualify for AFCON 2025

The Super Eagles have joined 13 other nations to book their spots...

South African FA Boss Jordaan Arrested, Charged with Fraud

Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), has...

Super Eagles Eye AFCON Finals Ticket Against Benin Republic

Nigeria’s Super Eagles are poised to secure their spot in the 2025...

FIFA announces draw date for expanded Club World Cup

FIFA has revealed that the draws for the newly expanded Club World...

Super Eagles Land in Abidjan, Gear Up for Benin Republic Clash

The Nigerian national football team, the Super Eagles, has arrived in Abidjan,...

Exclusive: Nigerian heptathlon star, Oluwakemi Ruth Francis, slams AFN, its poor welfare

Nigerian heptathlete Oluwakemi Ruth Francis has opened up about her tumultuous experience...

Manchester United legend, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, departs club after interim stint

Manchester United has confirmed the departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the club...

Osimhen’s Brace Powers Galatasaray to 3-2 Win Over Samsunspor

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen led Galatasaray to a thrilling 3-2 victory over...

Brighton stun Manchester City with 2-1 comeback win

Brighton & Hove Albion pulled off a stunning 2-1 comeback win over...

Chelsea smashes UEFA Conference League record with 8-0 thrashing of Noah

Chelsea FC made history in the UEFA Conference League, securing a staggering...

Arteta Gives Rice Injury Boost Ahead of Chelsea Clash

Midfielder Declan Rice will have every chance to demonstrate his fitness before...

Arsenal suffer controversial Champions League defeat to Inter Milan

Arsenal’s Champions League campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a...

Lobi Stars unveil Finnish tactician, Mika Lönnström, as new head coach

Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi has officially unveiled Mika Lönnström, a...

NFF in talks with Dangote, BUA for foreign coach payment

In a bid to address the long-standing issue of payment for foreign...