Jurgen Klopp has labelled Liverpool’s victory over Man City as one of the best performances during his Reds reign.
Making seven changes, his refreshed side raced into a 3-0 half-time lead at Wembley, and even though Pep Guardiola’s side scored at either of the second half, Liverpool held on to reach their first FA Cup final for 10 years.
Klopp was delighted by his side’s performance, having seen the Reds improve considerably compared to last weekend’s draw at the Etihad. And admitted it would have felt strange had they actually recorded a 3-0 win against their closest rivals.
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“Yeah, I think so (it’s one of our best performances). The first half because of the quality of the opponent,” he told reporters. “What you saw in the second half showed how good they really are. To deny them in so many moments is so difficult.
“Creating goalscoring opportunities against them is obviously very difficult as well. What I saw in the first half was outstanding in pretty much all parts of the game.
“In the second half, they scored like we did in the previous game, they scored early goal and it’s clear it opens. No football player on the planet feels safe against City with a 3-1 lead. It’s always clear what they can do.
“We needed Ali, what a game we played. But we had our moments as well and could have decided the game earlier. We didn’t do it but it makes it more special. 3-0 against City would feel strange, 3-2 is a fair result and is still good enough to bring us to the final.”
Yet despite reaching the FA Cup final, Klopp again played down any possibility of Liverpool winning the quadruple, pointing out just how intense his side’s end to the season ahead of facing both Manchester United and Everton next week.
“You can mention whatever you want, it doesn’t make it more likely,” he said. “A game like today shows it even more, how unlikely it is to do something like that. To get through now against City, which is incredibly difficult and intense.
“We play again against Man Utd. With their three points today, and the results for Tottenham and Arsenal, the fight for the Champions League spot, the door is open to all three so they will be on their toes. It’s certainly not a friendly game.
“Then a few days later we play Everton. The situation they are in, it will not be a friendly game. Then we play Villarreal. It will not be a friendly game. Then Newcastle.
“It’s incredibly intense and it’s really unlikely that a team will win all the games. We have an FA Cup final now which means the Southampton game will be moved.
“It will be played in midweek, it’s really unlikely but I couldn’t care less to be honest. Let’s go for it, let’s try to win the next game and see how we recover between now and then. We will see.”
