Jurgen Klopp’s candid message to Liverpool players after Manchester City setback

Liverpool star James Milner has revealed his and Jurgen Klopp’s reaction to two conflicting nights in the club’s history in May 2019

James Milner has revealed what Jürgen Klopp said to the Liverpool squad at a pivotal moment in the 2018-19 season.

The Reds battled Manchester City for the Premier League title that season and were neck-and-neck at the top of the table. When the run began in May, Liverpool also entered the Champions League and faced Barcelona in the semi-finals

Klopp’s side lost the first leg 3-0 at the Camp Nou and were hoping Man City would drop points in the Premier League next weekend. Vincent Kompany, however, scored his now famous long-range goal to secure a 1-0 home win over Leicester City that nearly sealed Pep Guardiola’s side with the title.

The next night Liverpool faced Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League. And Milner explained what Klopp said to the Reds team the day after City’s dramatic win over the Foxes.

Milner talked about episode four of JÜRGEN, a docu-series of The Anfield Wrap supported by ERDINGER

“You have City the night before, it looks like they are going to have a tough time and then Vinny cuts one into the top corner,” Milner told The Anfield Wrap. “I’ve seen that shot go over the City training ground fence 50 times in one pitch, and sadly for us it was just one of them.

“You come the next day and the manager says, ‘Okay, does anyone have anything to say about last night? No, well, here we go…’

“And he was like, ‘For most teams this would be impossible, the only reason we have a chance is because it’s you.'”

The ensuing match at Anfield became one of the most famous in the club’s history. Liverpool won 4-0 to reach the Champions League final, which was then won in Madrid to give the club its sixth European title.

Milner reflected on the opening moments of that May night at Anfield. Liverpool needed to score at least three goals without an answer to have any chance of qualifying, and the Reds midfielder explained how the early moments of the match paved the way for what followed.

“The match starts and we get a corner, and it’s the loudest roar I’ve ever heard for a corner in my life,” said Milner. “The more you play, you get good vibes and you’re aware of the vibe, you get that ‘yeah, it’s cool’ feeling, or you can feed off of that, but you generally don’t notice it in the game. But that was an angle and he was like ‘wow’.

“The way I felt after the match was more of a relief, because you feel how good we were maybe not having the opportunity to do that, obviously the disappointment of the year before, and then we played as well as we were in the league and get all the points we thought, ‘we’re not going to cross the line there either’, or ‘it’s not in our hands'”.

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Latest on Liverpool injury news ahead of Man City with concern for Darwin Nunez and hope for Luis Diaz

Liverpool injury news: The Reds are still struggling with several fitness issues during the international break, including Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Thiago Alcantara, Cody Gakpo and Jordan Henderson

Jurgen Klopp hopes to have some of his injured players available when Liverpool return to action.

The Reds are currently in the middle of the international break for the season. Next up for Klopp’s players is a Premier League match at Manchester City on April 1.

Liverpool need to significantly improve their away form to take all three points at the Etihad Stadium. The Reds lost their last league game at Bournemouth 0-1. The top four are now Liverpool’s ultimate target this season and Klopp’s side are currently seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two games. And with the bulk of his squad still scattered around the world, Klopp will be hoping his players will all be back in shape for the break-in.

Two Liverpool players have already withdrawn from their respective international squads. Darwin Nunez withdrew from the Uruguay squad due to an ankle injury, while Cody Gakpo returned from the Dutch squad due to illness.

Klopp will hope his two star strikers recover in time ahead of the trip to Man City. He’ll have a better idea of ​​where Nunez and Gakpo stand fitness-wise when they show up for training next week.

In terms of existing injuries, Luis Diaz is nearing a return to first-team training after a long break with a knee injury. The Colombian international has been sidelined since October, but the club are hoping to have him back in training next week before the trip to Manchester.

Whether he’ll be able to take on Manchester City, however, is another matter. It will be one for the medical department and behind-the-scenes personnel to review next week after Diaz is tested. Calvin Ramsay was sidelined for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. For Thiago Alcantara, however, it is still a question mark when he will return.

Thiago has been sidelined since the beginning of February with a hip flexor injury. When he’ll actually train again remains to be seen, with the most recent update coming from his Instagram account earlier this month with a post of himself at the gym.

He also doubts about Jordan Henderson, despite him being called up to England. It was later reported that the midfielder hasn’t fully participated in training with the Three Lions after missing recent Liverpool games through illness.