Juergen Klopp on Wednesday hit out at Atletico Madrid’s defensive approach after holders Liverpool were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League.
Klopp’s side were on course for the quarter-finals after taking a 2-0 lead in extra-time in the last-16 second leg.
Goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino left Liverpool 2-1 up on aggregate at Anfield.
Photo: Reuters
However, a howler from Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian opened the floodgates, as Marcos Llorente struck twice before Alvaro Morata completed Atletico’s 4-2 aggregate triumph.
It was a bitter blow for Reds boss Klopp, who had seen his team dominate the first 90 minutes, but not take enough chances to win the tie.
Klopp could not hide his frustration at the way that Atletico manager Diego Simeone set up his side in a cautious counterattacking style for long periods.
“It’s so difficult to play a side like this. I don’t understand with the quality they have, the football they play,” Klopp told BT Sport. “They could play proper football, but they stand deep and have counterattacks. I realize I am a really bad loser, especially when the boys put such an effort in against world-class players on the other side, who defend with two rows of four.”
The defeat ended Liverpool’s bid for a third successive appearance in the Champions League final.
“It doesn’t feel right. I’m searching for the right words to be honest. The 90 minutes were exceptional,” he said. “After the second goal, the legs were a bit tired... We shouldn’t have conceded these kinds of goals. It’s difficult to explain to be honest.”
“Our main mistake was to not score the second goal five minutes earlier,” Klopp said. “Everything was against us in the decisive moments. We will come again, but now we are out.”
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said that his team deserved to win on the balance of play, but the midfielder admitted that they paid for some sloppy mistakes.
“We are really disappointed with the result because we deserved to go through,” he said. “To concede the goals we did isn’t like us.”
Runaway leaders Liverpool are still set to win the English Premier League title, despite the blip.
“Tonight and tomorrow, it will not feel nice, but we have to react in the right way and finish the season off well,” Henderson said.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS