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Jurgen Klopp praised Liverpool’s mentality as its players took a big step into the Champions League quarter-finals with a dominant victory over RB Leipzig.
Second-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane allowed Liverpool to take control of this match and a 2-0 win means they now have a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals; it was Liverpool’s most complete performance since before Christmas.
Another loss in Hungary would have seen Liverpool embroiled in a crisis and Klopp felt that critics of his team expected them to “fail”, but that possibility was never on the cards, as they gave the Bundesliga side the slightest bit. flash.
“It’s just that a lot of people expected us to slide again because of the situation, but the guys weren’t,” Klopp said. “I don’t believe too much in the motivation of wanting to prove people wrong, I just think that people expected us to have difficulties again.
‘I am really satisfied with the performance and it led me to a well deserved victory. It was a game in which we did not expect great advantages due to the mentality of both teams but I thought we were better most of the night. I know Leipzig quite well and I know how overwhelming they can be.
“That’s what we had to deal with and the guys played a very good game. We did it well. We are no longer children and I know that people are not happy with the results. The guys deserved the win, I think. We forced them to make mistakes and I am completely happy with the performance. ”
Klopp was much more like his old self on the sidelines and constantly barked instructions and encouragement; was rewarded in the second period when standouts Salah and Mane capitalized on defensive mistakes to give Liverpool a significant buffer for the second leg.
He was also delighted with Liverpool’s defense keeping a clean sheet, which was preserved by two crucial saves by Alisson Becker on either side of the break. The Brazilian has made unusual mistakes in recent weeks, but this display was more in line with his standards.
“Definitely,” Klopp said, when asked about Alisson’s improvement. But he had great moments in the Leicester game, huh? But of course a clean sheet helps, as you can imagine. Ali will sleep very well on the plane on the way home! As always, it helped us a lot.
I think the attitude of (new signing) Ozan Kabak was good. I am very happy with his performance. And Hendo, he can play this position perfectly. It’s not that Leipzig didn’t have a chance, Ali had to intervene as well, but that’s normal.
‘Overall, I can say that, with the whole package, I am very satisfied with the performance. Whatever they tried, we had an answer. They had opportunities, but that is normal. Most of the time, we were in control of the game, which was very important and not much happens against Leipzig. ”
Julian Nagelsmann, Leipzig’s head coach, refused to concede the draw and promised to attack in the second leg saying: ‘It won’t be easy, but I think we’ve earned respect. We have to be confident for the second game. We have to win.’
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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