Jurgen Klopp hails his young Liverpool heroes

Macdara Ferris reports from the Estadio Metropolitano

No more talk of being a losing finalist for Jurgen Klopp now after his side secured a sixth European Cup and his first winners medal after losing six successive cup finals as a manager.

The German praised his young players for what they have achieved by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Champions League Final in Madrid and made it clear he thinks there is plenty more to come from this crop of talented players.

“I get it, we have to win things," said Klopp speaking to the media in the Estadio Metropolitano after the final whistle. "It’s really important for us now that people don’t ask all the time about not winning or winning. So, now we’ve won something, we will carry on. 

“It is only the start for this group.They are still a wonderful age group - they all have the best times in their career still ahead of them, so that’s big. For me, I’m really happy. I have a lot of silver medals and now I have a golden one and that’s cool. 

“I am mostly relieved to be honest for my family as they are close to me and the last six times we flew on holidays with a silver which wasn’t too cool And this is completely different this year!”

His team lost just one league game in the season but came up against a Manchester City who pipped them for the Premier League title by a point. 

“97 points in the league is incredible and winning the Champions League. That’s an unbelievably long way to go and we did it. That’s incredible. We were all pretty much crying on the pitch because it was so emotional, it was so big, it means so much to us.”

The long break since the conclusion of the Premier League season – coupled with this being all England tie – made the game more of a battle according to Klopp.

"Tonight, it was a big challenge for both teams to deal with the three weeks because you never have a period where you have three weeks with no game. So you have to keep the rhythm or get the rhythm back actually. 



"There were different circumstances for two English teams tonight and it was pretty warm. So, you saw that it was a fight and the final is about the result."

He had sympathies for the beaten finalists, some empathy for Mauricio Pochettino’s men no doubt as Klopp was in the same situation also year after losing the Champions League final. 

“I know how Tottenham feel. They had a sensational season as well. We scored the goals at the right moment. They should be proud of what they have done this season.”

Last year his team fell at the final hurdle in the European Cup only to come back stronger a year later to claim the crown. 

Klopp’s young chargers will be looking to do something similar in the Premier League next year and you wouldn’t bet against this years’ runners-up going one step further in the league next year.

    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile