Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp revealed that he spoke at half-time with his players after Villarreal’s decline.
The Reds found themselves behind after 45 minutes thanks to goals from Boulay Dea and Francis Coquelin. However, Liverpool came back from behind to defeat the Spanish side 3-2, 5-2 on aggregate to qualify for this year’s Champions League finals.
Speaking after the match, Klopp explained what he told his players.
“At HT, I asked the boys to play better than the first half!” Klopp said.
“Usually we try to find a position to show them which explains it. I told them to find one. Pete Krawitz couldn’t find anything! It was obvious, it was hard for us to start. We tried to force it and kicked a lot of long balls. It wasn’t enough to get Momentum”.
“So we explained what we had to do to get stronger and move smarter. We couldn’t find half the mileage, the front three were very consistent.”
“There was no flexibility so we had to mix it up. We played for them. I told the boys I wanted to read the headline: ‘The City Boys Mindset’. I wanted us to go for it. For me, it was like this.”
The Reds will now face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the finals.
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