Jurgen Klopp likens Liverpool’s Forest win to famous triumph over Villa

Jurgen Klopp has compared Liverpool’s late win over Nottingham Forest to the crucial win over Aston Villa during their famed 2019/2020 league-winning season.

Klopp wasn’t happy with his team’s football on the day.

Jurgen Klopp delighted with Liverpool

However, he was delighted with the result.

“The last one always feels the best,” Klopp said on Liverpoolfc.com. 

“It’s up there with all the others. We have only 63 points because we won the other games as well; I don’t know exactly when that was and how, but they are all super-important. 

“But today it was Aston Villa-like [in 2019], where we had to turn it around and Robbo [Andy Robertson] scored… I think Robbo could have scored in the first half and maybe should have, I don’t know. 

“So, we had moments in the first half as well, bit by bit they come up again. 

“We had chances. Always, again, when we play football we are a really good football team. We didn’t play often enough proper football today, too much in a rush, but can I understand that? Yes, I do. Do I like it? No. But it’s true as well.”

Nunez coming through in the clutch

Klopp was also delighted that Darwin Nunez was the man to provide the crucial finish.

He was asked how vital the goal would be but said time would tell.

“We will see that. It was, it is so important the goal which gives you three points. It’s always super-decisive and, especially for him, super-deserved.

“People singing that song more often, it’s the best way to calm it immediately down, but they can sing it if Darwin responds like he did today.

“Before that he had really good moments. I think it was him after a set-piece, if I’m right, [where it was a] sensational save of the goalie. It was his chance as well. He was really immediately in the game, in a difficult game for us obviously.

“Game No.4 in 11 days is always difficult. With our squad situation, it’s super-difficult. We didn’t start particularly well, it was obvious, but we had no real rhythm – that was the problem a little bit. Not really fluent, these kind of things, you have to play quick against a defensive block, you have to play in the right spaces, we had too many players behind the ball – normal football things – and created anyway then a few chances, not the biggest ones. But we had a few chances which showed us how we can do it.

“And then second half, the game gets more and more difficult, opponents fighting for the result, bring on Taiwo [Awoniyi who is] a real handful and a proper target player for counter-attacks, [Anthony] Elanga and [Callum] Hudson-Odoi around him, [Morgan] Gibbs-White now with the space there – that’s really tricky. 

“We defended that exceptional in the last moment with the four in the back and Caoimh [Kelleher] and Wataru [Endo] from a specific moment on. So, the game is open, that means you can win it and obviously Macca had an idea after 98 minutes. A wonderful ball, [a] really wonderful piece of football and Darwin is there and scores the goal. A really cool afternoon for us in the end.”