Jurgen Klopp describes Liverpool's win over Ajax as one of his biggest victories in Europe

Published on: 01 December 2020

Jurgen Klopp described Liverpool’s victory over Ajax as one of his biggest in Europe as they reached the knockout phase with a game to spare.

Liverpool’s manager was emotional at the final whistle and gave special attention to goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, goalscorer Curtis Jones and young right-back Neco Williams for the roles they played in securing a 1-0 success that means they have won Group D.

Klopp has been involved in some dramatic group stage games at Anfield, against teams such as Paris St Germain, Spartak Moscow and Napoli, but – even without supporters in the stadium – he felt this was comparable due to the circumstances Liverpool have faced.

‘The difficult situation we are in and winning the game 1-0, making a lot of changes, (Andy Robertson) had massive knock on his ankle and needed strapping at half-time,’ said Klopp. ‘Hendo proper knock in his back, Gini played whatever number game, I don't want to say.

‘I hope he can carry on. We defended like devils. It is not that we played the best, best football. This is the situation we are in, that is what you make of it and we are top of the group after match day five and we've never done that before. It is unbelievably good.’

The performance of Kelleher, who was making his Champions League debut, was huge. He made a superb save from Klass-Jan Huntelaar in the final minutes to preserve Liverpool’s lead and vindicated Klopp’s decision to play him ahead of Adrian to replace the hamstrung Alisson Becker.

‘Top, top, top,’ said Klopp. ‘It is a situation where I have to say it was easy to decide for Caoimh because he deserves it but difficult to decide against Adrian because he has done well for us. He did a really good job but tonight we needed the package of Caoimh .

‘He is a top talent, really good shot-stopper and top footballer. We needed that for the pressing of Ajax. It was really good. In the end it is about keeping the ball out the net and he did that twice and he did that in an exceptional manner.’

Kelleher added: ‘It was amazing. The most important thing was to get the win. Thankfully I was able to make a few saves. That's what I'm there for.

‘It’s quite easy for me because when the players in front of me give the ball back to me, they always make the easy options.’

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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