We don’t like thinking too much about the travesty that was the second-half of the Europa League Final last season.
After Daniel Sturridge gave us a first-half lead with a beautiful goal, we collapsed to a 3-1 loss – showing little fight; resembling rabbits in advancing Spanish headlights.
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Alberto Moreno got blamed but in truth, his team-mates were not up to much either in a defeat which cost Jurgen Klopp his first trophy at the club and Liverpool a place in this season’s Champions League…
According to the boss, Liverpool were emotionally drained from the effort it took to come back against Dortmund in the quarters, and simply didn’t have the mental energy to put everything on the line again so soon after.
“I was in a state of emergency,” Klopp told Sport1 about Liverpool’s game with his former club. “To prepare for such a match five months after I started here, seven months after I left BVB on amicable terms, was a personal challenge. Looking back today, the last 30 minutes was one of the most emotional half-hours I ever experienced.
“Having eliminated my old club, it would have been nicer to win the title in the end. But it wasn’t to be. Maybe also because of the intensity of the BVB match. We had nothing to add in the second half of the final. We were on our last legs and then stood no chance against Sevilla.”
A lack of players with experience of winning major trophies also played its part against the Spaniards, who in fairness, played exceptionally after we dominated early on.
Klopp’s lost his last five finals, which is a worrying statistic should Liverpool reach another next term.
We fluffed our chance to this term of course after losing to Southampton in the EFL Cup semis.