Jurgen Klopp Says Real Madrid Played Better Than Liverpool “In Three Halves”
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A 1-0 defeat at the Bernabeu on Wednesday saw Liverpool beaten 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has conceded that his team deserved to exit the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid.
A 1-0 defeat at the Bernabeu on Wednesday saw Liverpool beaten 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.
This was the fourth time in Klopp’s Liverpool career that he had seen his side knocked out by Real.
Liverpool had led 2-0 after 14 minutes of the first leg at Anfield three weeks ago before collapsing in front of the reigning European champions.
Klopp said in the build-up to Wednesday’s game that his side had a one percent chance of overturning their 5-2 deficit.
Speaking after the game, he admitted that the Reds never came close to staging a comeback and said that Real had been superior in three quarters of this two-legged contest.
Klopp told BT Sport: “Being 5-2 down is not a great result if you want to got through. You need to have a special performance and we couldn’t do that tonight.
“Real Madrid had the best chances, Alisson made two fantastic saves. The right team went through, we have to admit that. Knockout stages are like this. It’s not what we wanted but it’s what we got.
“You need moments in a game like this. If we scored in the first half it could have given us the spark but this is hypothetical. They were the better team in three halves of this tie and that’s how you go through.
“If we draw at home and play like we did tonight, we probably go out as well. We cannot come here and hope that we get something. We prepared for a special performance tonight but it didn’t happen.
“Nobody thinks: ‘How could Liverpool go out?’ That’s probably the best sign that the right team went through and that’s how it is in the knockout stage.”
The draw for the quarter-finals is on Friday.