Liverpool face a testing Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, but have made a statement by reaching the last four for the second straight year and are equipped to deal with the very best, manager Jurgen Klopp said.
Liverpool beat Porto 4-1 at the Dragao Stadium on Wednesday to advance 6-1 on aggregate with their attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all on target once again.
With their defence marshalled by the hugely impressive Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool, who reached the final last year, are now undefeated in their last 17 games in all competitions as they seek a Premier League-Champions League double.
โWe have been together for a while, we needed to be more mature,โ Klopp said.
โThe boys made their own experience in this competition, especially last year. Itโs the second time in a row we are in the semis.
โThat says something, itโs a big statement for the club. OK we play Barca, maybe itโs not too easy,โ the German added with a smile.
Liverpool certainly made it look easy in the second half against Porto after a tough opening 25 minutes.
Yet after Sadio Mane latched onto a Mohamed Salah ball to open the scoring following a VAR review, Liverpool were in charge and never lost their composure.
โI was thinking itโs offside, to be honest. And I told the boys โkeep going, keep goingโ and they say โno, you have to wait because itโs a goalโ,โ the Senegalese said.
โI was surprised. It was an important goal but the main point today was to qualify for the semis.โ
Klopp said they were expecting the early Porto onslaught.
โIt was very, very difficult. We knew that before, that it will be a proper whirlwind here and thatโs what they did,โ Klopp said.
โWe know these games in the Champions league, they (Porto) are a completely different animal in home games. And it was clear that we had to be ready for that,โ he added.
โIn a deep defending situation we were ready for that, we couldnโt put proper pressure on them in their build-up. A little bit disorganisation, but itโs all good.
โA difficult game but we won it and so I am completely fine. Going to the semi-finals, I think we are the only ones who were last in the semi-finals and again in the semi-final so thatโs really special for us.โ
REUTERS
