Klopp After 3-3 Benfica Tie: Players are Only Human
Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp, is breathing more easily after his team barely scraped through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals following a 3-3 draw against Benfica on Wednesday night, 13 April.
The crowd at Anfield Stadium bore witness to a nail-biting performance, with the match looking all but over with 3-1 on the scoreboard going into the second half, but then the visiting Portuguese side struck back in the last ten minutes to level the game.
Despite the Reds looking like they were on auto-pilot for the latter half, they managed to hold off the Eagles until the final whistle blew and, thanks to an aggregate of 6-4, Klopp’s crew secured themselves a spot in the semi-finals.
In a post-match interview, a visibly relieved Klopp said: “The situation was the defence had never played together and it was about details … The players are human beings, they were like, ‘Okay, job done.’ But Benfica kept fighting and I respect that.”
He admitted: “It was not exactly what we wanted but it is absolutely not important. We are through and that’s all that matters. I’m really happy.”
Liverpool will face off against Spanish team Villarreal on 27 April.