Klopp unconcerned by Núñez’s finishing after open goal miss

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he is relaxed about Darwin Núñez’s finishing after the forward missed an open goal as the Merseyside club maintained a perfect record in the Europa League this season with a 5-1 win over Toulouse.

The 24-year-old, who moved to the Premier League club from Portuguese side Benfica for a deal worth an initial €75 million ($79.1m) in June last year, missed the gilt-edged chance to score his second goal of the night on Thursday against Ligue 1’s Toulouse, but put on an impressive performance at Anfield.

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Having netted in the first half, Núñez helped Liverpool move five points clear at the top of Group E. Diogo Jota, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah were all on the scoresheet.

“He played incredible. Honestly, in this moment, I couldn’t care less that he hits the post in that moment because everything before was super-convincing, was absolutely clear,” Klopp told reporters.

“How he took the defender away, how he passed the goalie, it was a perfect situation… He’s a happy boy or man in the moment and you can see that every day. And now we have to make sure that it stays like that.”

Jurgen Klopp defended Darwin Núñez after the Liverpool forward’s miss against Toulouse in the Europa League. Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Klopp said there was a lot more to come from 21-year-old midfielder Gravenberch, who slotted into the corner moments after Nunez’s miss. It was Gravenberch’s first back-to-back start in 18 months, having joined from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day in September.

“I really like him as a boy and as a player, and it’s really nice to see how much he starts believing in himself again. That’s obviously very important for each player but for a young player especially,” Klopp said of Gravenberch.

When asked what he’s made of Liverpool this season, Klopp said: “I think it’s really easy to fall in love with this team because it [has] so much excitement in it.

“How the team interacts with each other is really nice because when you talk about the rebuild of a team then it is all about the things you see on the pitch, obviously, but to see that there must be a rebuild off the pitch as well — and that’s going really well.”

Fourth in the Premier League, Liverpool are three points off the top of the table and next host Nottingham Forest on Sunday.