Jurgen Klopp was elated with how Liverpool stifled RB Leipzig’s ‘monster’ pedigree as his side breezed into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 2-0 victory at the Puskas Arena.
Having waited more than 11 hours for a goal from open play at home, two came along within the space of five second-half minutes in Budapest as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – scoring the 100th Champions League goal in manager Jurgen Klopp’s 44th match in charge – made the tie safe with a 4-0 aggregate victory.
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This was Reds’ designated ‘home’ fixture but their woeful Anfield form – where they had lost six in a row in the league – meant they were probably grateful coronavirus restrictions forced them to play in Hungary again.
Klopp believes the biggest compliment he can pay to his side is they stopped their opponents from showing their true pedigree.
He told BT Sport: “The best thing the boys did is nobody could really see how good Leipzig can be.
“We defended them really well because they are a monster usually. They’re so powerful and can run in behind, but we defended that really well.
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“We had to switch off the Premier League stuff to get here and give it a proper try. The boys really enjoyed themselves tonight which is important. We’re really happy.”
As for whether they can build on this win when they head to Wolves in the Premier League on Monday, Klopp added: “We have to.
“If we play like tonight then it will not be easy. But we want to win football games now, we feel it for the first time in a while and it’s a massive difference.”
Mohamed Salah reflected that it has been a difficult season for the Reds, who sit eighth in the Premier League, 25 points behind leaders Manchester City.
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“The team is not in the best shape but we want to fight in the Champions League and we want to fight in each game in the Premier League and we will see what will happen,” he added.
“We’ve had a few injuries this season, we have been unlucky but the most important thing is we need to keep fighting.
“I know it’s really hard and everybody can see that, but as much as everybody tries to give 100 per cent and keep fighting, we just need to take one game at a time.
“We don’t have to look to the big picture because sometimes when you do, we get pressure and we see too much pressure carried on to the pitch. We just need to leave the pressure off the field and just play football.”
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