Jurgen Klopp was left to rue Liverpool’s first-leg performance after they tumbled out of the Champions League to Real Madrid at Anfield.
After a 3-1 defeat in the Spanish capital last week, the Reds were left with an uphill battle for the return game at home on Wednesday night and were unable to break down their visitors.
Klopp was happy with the overall performance on Wednesday but lamented missed chances and that loss in Madrid last week.
Firmino on Jürgen Klopp this season:
“He gets sad, he gets angry. Nobody likes to lose, especially him. Our team got used to winning.” [ESPN Brasil] pic.twitter.com/toy8J8x3Hg
— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) April 15, 2021
However, the likes of Mohamed Salah, Gini Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino all missed big opportunities as Thibaut Courtois impressed on Merseyside to ensure a goalless draw for Los Blancos.
He said: “We didn’t lose the game tonight, we lost it in Madrid that is clear. The level of performance today was good enough and had we gone 1-0 up it would have been a different game.
“It wasn’t comfortable for Madrid, certainly. We were good and aggressive and played some really good stuff and had massive chances in the game. If we take one of them it opens it up and they had already struggled and that would have increased that.
“We had a lot of situations and could have had more, but you need to force these situations more often.
“But we didn’t score and it got more difficult and then with the experience of Madrid they played the tie down, and that was that.
“We have to (be back in the Champions League next season). We love this competition and for different reasons it is important for the club. We can now concentrate, unfortunately, on the Premier League, but that is what we will do.”
Liverpool and Chelsea will fight for a top-four Premier League finish
Both Chelsea and Liverpool are doing their best to close in on either Leicester City and West Ham and secure Champions League football next season with a top-four finish.
And Liverpool’s hopes of doing this have been boosted by Chelsea’s packed schedule.
Thomas Tuchel’s side potentially have 12 more games to play before the end of the season.
Chelsea fixture schedule
Man City FA Cup semi
Brighton (PL h)
West Ham (PL a)
Real Madrid (CL a)
Fulham (PL h)
Real Madrid (CL h)
Man City (PL a)
Arsenal (PL h)
possible FA Cup Final
Leicester (PL h)
Aston Villa (PL a)
possible CL finaltough, but nice to be in the mix
KTBFFH pic.twitter.com/yIzQOIO6vG
— Mark Worrall (@gate17marco) April 14, 2021
An FA Cup semi-final clash with Man City takes place this weekend, before three days later a Premier League match with Brighton.
The Blues are then in action at West Ham that weekend on April 24 before three days later flying to Spain to face Real Madrid.
A return to south-west London sees them take on London rivals Fulham, again, just three days later, before they then host Real Madrid.
Finally, Chelsea finish their season with a trip to Manchester to take on City before heading home to play host to Arsenal.
Should the Blues progress in both the Champions League and FA Cup then they will have a further two matches to play.
The Pensioners are used to a busy schedule and Tuchel has a big enough squad to rotate adequately.
But the extra fixtures, and the fact Chelsea are fighting on three fronts rather than Liverpool’s one, is certainly a boost for the Reds who have just seven matches left to play this season.
