Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said after eliminating Villarreal that his rival made it “very difficult” for them to reach the Champions League final but he praised his team’s reaction after trailing 2-0 in the first half and giving it the return to the marker in the second (2-3).
“At the break I told them that they had to improve. We tried to find a situation in the match in which they did what we wanted. But Villarreal has impressed us, we have not found continuity. I have told him that we had to move more, that they move to cause problems. We have done it,” Klopp said.
“In the first half we didn’t see that monstrous team, but it’s Villarreal’s fault. Reacting the way we’ve reacted has been incredible. Luis Diaz has had an incredible impact but I don’t want to personalize, and it’s not Jota’s fault, it was everyone’s. We have changed to him, but it was not us. In the second half we have been, and that is why we have won the match”, he added.
“But this is not over, we are happy, it is difficult to reach three finals, but we will see what happens when we play them,” said Klopp, who added that seven this new final as if it were the first, because it is the best competition in the world .
“This is a fantastic stadium and what they are doing here is incredible. It was a great game in which we played very well in the second half and I think we deserved to go through even though it was a very tough game. They have been very strong and their people have helped them a lot,” she concluded.