Jurgen Klopp has conceded Liverpool are destined for the Europa League and paid tribute to Newcastle United - who 'deserve' to qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool missed the chance to close the gap on third-placed Newcastle on Saturday following a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in the Reds' penultimate game of the season. Newcastle, as a result, need just a point from their final two matches of the campaign to return to Europe's top table for the first time in 20 years.
Liverpool may still mathematically be in the race for the top four, but Klopp is resigned to Newcastle getting the draw they need and fourth-placed Manchester United claiming the point they require to qualify for the Champions League. Although Liverpool have been ever-presents in the Champions League for some time now, reaching at least the final in 2022, 2019 and 2018, Klopp insisted he was 'not that spoilt' as the German vowed to make the Europa League 'our competition'.
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"That's it now," he told Match of the Day. "We made it a proper fight in general chasing the Champions League.
"I always said the teams above us deserve it. That's how it is. They got more points and it's absolutely fine. We would have loved to make it even more exciting for another week. We couldn't do that."
Newcastle may just need a point in the final week of the season, but the relentless Magpies won't just want to settle for a draw against Leicester City at a rocking St James' Park on Monday night. Eddie Howe will be desperate to defeat both Leicester and Chelsea to ensure his side finish in third place. That would represent Newcastle's best Premier League finish since 2003 when Sir Bobby Robson was in charge.
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