Jurgen Klopp has pledged Liverpool will give everything in the Premier League title race after succumbing to an early Europa League exit, saying: “That’s our competition now”.
Liverpool beat Atalanta 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough after the Reds suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat at Anfield in the first leg.
Mohamed Salah’s early penalty seemed to give Liverpool hope of another memorable European fightback, but Atalanta produced a disciplined performance to limit the Reds to very few clear-cut chances.
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While Liverpool were being tipped to end Klopp’s final season at the helm with a quadruple until last month, they now face the prospect of the EFL Cup being the sum of their efforts.
They resume their Premier League campaign at Fulham on Sunday, sitting two points behind leaders Manchester City, and Klopp has promised they will give everything to win a 20th top-flight title.
“We’re disappointed that we did not go through but not frustrated or angry or anything like that. Now we can focus on the league and that’s what we will do,” he said.
“We have a few days to recover, we will do that, and then we’ll travel the day after tomorrow to London and will play Fulham, which will be tricky but we will give our absolute all.
“That’s our competition now. I saw a good reaction from my side, we had not a great week last week obviously.
“This, if we want, was the start for the rest of the season, with a good result and a good performance and that’s how we see it.”
What a journey 👏#UEL PIC.TWITTER.COM/VAZWHZXCON
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) APRIL 18, 2024
Despite opening the scoring, Salah came in for criticism after a wasteful performance, with the Egyptian missing one glorious chance to make it 3-2 on aggregate when his lob dropped wide of the far corner in the first half.
Salah has gone five matches without scoring from open play, but Klopp is not worried about his form.
“I am not particularly concerned. That’s what happens to strikers, that’s how it is. We have to go through this, he has to go through that,” Klopp said.
“He is one of the most experienced players we have in the squad. We will go through that but that’s pretty much it. It’s not like Mo didn’t miss chances before in his life, that’s part of the game.
“The penalty was super convincing, then the next chance, that was obviously unlucky but it is not the first time he missed a chance like that.
“I will not make a big story of it, what you make of it I obviously have no influence, but no, I am not particularly concerned.”
Defeat on the night but victory over the tie 👏#UEL PIC.TWITTER.COM/DYV5APPWMN
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) APRIL 18, 2024
