- Jurgen Klopp turns immediate focus towards Saturday’s clash with Chelsea
- Liverpool boss claims draw against Sevilla feels like a defeat
- Vows to learn from second-half collapse
- SEE MORE: (Video) Jamie Carragher’s brutal analysis of child-like Liverpool feels familiar…
Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool can’t afford to dwell on Tuesday night’s shock second-half collapse against Sevilla.
The Reds squandered the chance to secure their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League, conceding a stoppage-time equaliser and throwing away a three-goal advantage.
Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 first-half lead courtesy of a brace from Roberto Firmino split by Sadio Mane’s instinctive diving header.
It looked to be plain sailing for Klopp’s men against a side that has been beaten only by Juventus in their last 25 home games.
“From tomorrow on we will know we have a point more than we had this afternoon,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
“But in this moment – I don’t think anybody can change this – it feels like we lost the game. We didn’t lose the game. Ask Sevilla, they feel like they won the game but they didn’t.”
“That’s our business, that’s our life, we have to start preparing for Chelsea pretty much immediately.”
“In this moment, it is like it is, we cannot change it anymore. Everybody wants to change it but it’s not possible. We played the game already and we will again learn off it but for tonight it is too late and we have to accept the result.”
Liverpool remain top of Group E and will proceed to the next round if they can overcome Spartak Moscow at Anfield in the first week of December.
A combination of familiar lapses in concentration and a lack of leadership throughout the team threaten to be speed-bumps to the Reds’ recent revival.
It was the kind of demoralising result capable of inflicting lasting damage on particular individuals, thereby giving Klopp a vital task of preparing his side for a tough contest with Chelsea.
The pain and anguish has to inspire a fightback.