Jurgen Klopp has reflected on Liverpool’s humbling 5-2 loss to Real Madrid ahead of what he describes as an ‘uncomfortable’ trip to face Crystal Palace.
Having gone 2-0 up against the reigning European champions, Liverpool imploded to concede five goals in the space of 46 minutes to leave them with a mountain to climb to remain in the Champions League.
It has already been a challenging season for the Reds, who currently lay eighth in the Premier League, and while Jurgen Klopp admits that the result against Los Blancos was unacceptable, he said he saw some signs of some elements of their game coming back.
“We watched the game back, no time to watch it with the players. Same with training, not a lot of time to use,” he told the media. “I don’t read a lot but when you lose like this, it makes no sense to listen. Conceding five in a home Champions League game is not acceptable, I know that.
“It’s not that you can work on a lot of stuff between Wednesday to Saturday. When you lose a game like that it makes no sense to read or listen to what people say. But the first half was a really good half. A lot of things are back but not stable – that’s why we conceded the goals.
“The second half had the worst start for us. What I saw was a lot of things are back but not stable yet. It was a night which wasn’t helpful but we have to work with it. We prepare for two days and again today. Hopefully, we learn the right things.”
He added: “There was also a lot of good stuff that I hadn’t seen for a long time.”
🗣️ “Everything that happens in life has influence on confidence. Recently I scratched my car, since then I drive my car round corners like this.” 🤣
Jürgen Klopp uses an interesting analogy to describe the confidence in his squad. pic.twitter.com/SqaG1WavHo
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 24, 2023
Liverpool face Crystal Palace on Saturday evening before taking on Wolves at Anfield in midweek, and the German said he has a lot of respect for Patrick Vieira’s side.
“We should not involve the Wolves game already or consider the three points already in our pocket. Palace performance-wise look much better. Really talented team. Lot of technique and speed on the pitch. I respect it a lot.
“All the games from here now are Champions League qualifiers.”
Despite being eighth in the league, Liverpool are only seven points behind fourth-placed Spurs having played two games less, and Klopp said that every game is a Champions League qualifier, starting with an ‘uncomfortable opponent’.
“All the games from here now are Champions League qualifiers,” he said.
“European football…it’s Liverpool! No-one asks me if we can make the Europa League, it’s incredibly important we qualify [for the Champions League]. It’s always so important and this year will be decided later if we can do it. We need points for that.
“We need to find some consistency in the way we play. It cannot be all about emotions… We just have to start believing in ourselves again & bring our quality on the pitch. We have to be tomorrow an incredible, uncomfortable opponent to play for Crystal Palace.
“I heard we have a good record at Selhurst but it is always tough. As it’s Saturday night I hope a lot of people in London go out and not to the stadium! But it’s a great place, they have some interesting young players. A cool club. I only remember super difficult games.”
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