Jürgen Klopp has praised his players for the outcome of their match against Nottingham Forest in week 27 of the Premier League.
The Reds left it late to win the game and stay at the top of the table with Manchester City hot on their heels. The goal was scored by substitute Darwin Nuñez after a contentious referee call and VAR omission.
However, many agreed that Liverpool were the better side on the day and Klopp was pleased with how his team handled themselves to come out on top.
“Game No.4 in 11 days is always difficult. With our squad situation, it’s super-difficult,” Klopp, who spent most of the afternoon on his feet in anxiety, said. “We didn’t start particularly well, it was obvious, but we had no real rhythm – that was the problem a little bit… But we had a few chances which showed us how we can do it.
“We defended that exceptional in the last moment with the four in the back and Caoimh [Kelleher] and Wataru [Endo] from a specific moment on. So, the game is open, that means you can win it and obviously Macca had an idea after 98 minutes. A wonderful ball, [a] really wonderful piece of football and Darwin is there and scores the goal. A really cool afternoon for us in the end.”
Then praising his players for navigating a tough fixture schedule with the big absences in the squad, he added: “Four games in 11 days, come on. Five in 15. It’s really tough. It’s tough anyway, but with our squad situation it’s super-tough.
“How the boys fought through that is really special. That we don’t come here today and just play them out of the stadium and they don’t find the exit anymore and stuff like this, that was clear. The fourth game was the toughest. It was really an unbelievable effort. The boys put in a proper, proper shift.
“We had to fight through this and the boys did it and if it’s 0-0, it’s 0-0. That doesn’t change the game, that doesn’t change the effort, but the goal obviously changed the result, the points and these kinds of things.
“For us, it’s super-important today and I’m really happy with that. So, now we have a few days longer until the next game. We need that to recharge and then we can train properly as well, which is helpful. The last 11 days we couldn’t train at all, we just recovered and played again. That’s the situation. Super-special. If you asked me 12 days ago if it was possible to win all four, I would have said no. But the boys made it happen.”
Liverpool are next in action in the UEFA Europa League against Sparta Prague for a ticket to the last eight of the competition.
