Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted he actually told talismanic striker Mohamed Salah to stop defending during their dominant 6-1 Europa League win over Sparta Prague.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted telling Mohamed Salah to “stop defending” during the 6-1 demolition of Sparta Prague.
Liverpool put on a show for the future Anfield faithful on Thursday evening. Progression to the last eight of Europa League That was already almost a certainty, given that they won the first leg in Prague 5-1, but they managed to go one better this time, putting six points ahead of the Czech team.
The Reds took a remarkable lead, with Liverpool 4-0 in the first 14 minutes. The first three of the club Salah, Cody Gakpo And Darwin Nuñez managed to get on the scoresheet, as did club academy graduate Bobby Clark, who scored his first ever senior goal.
For all of Liverpool’s brilliance, the defense presented by their visitors was nothing short of disastrous. Sparta Prague were adamant that they would try to stick to their positions and play from the back, but this continued to be to their detriment, unable to cope with the intense press from their hosts.
Salah made his first start for Liverpool since New Year’s Day, with much of his 2024 so far marred by an injury suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations where he represented Egypt.
He made an instant impact in that clash, scoring a goal that saw the 31-year-old become the first player in Liverpool history to score 20 or more goals in all competitions in seven consecutive seasons. However, after the match Klopp admitted that keeping his striker on for 90 minutes was not the plan.
“Mo is a very experienced player, I told him if he should stay. I think it was the first time I told a player ‘stop defending’, that’s what it is, don’t run in that anymore direction.”, Klopp told TNT Sports.
“He almost scored a great goal, but Cody was offside. But yeah, he [Salah] is very experienced, he easily crossed the finish line.
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A fairy tale for Klopp is still on the cards, with Liverpool still fighting on all three fronts having already won the Carabao Cup last month. The Reds boss is well aware that his teams have tougher games on the horizon, but he was clearly delighted with his players’ performance.
Klopp was all smiles for ALMOST the entire contest. He even laughed after Nunez was guilty of a hilarious miss, putting the ball over the bar when he was unmarked from more than eight yards out. However, he wasn’t happy for the full 90 minutes.
The German coach fought his way to a yellow card midway through the second half after expressing his fury over a quickly taken free kick which prevented him from introducing Virgil van Dijk as quickly as he would have wish.
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