Jurgen Klopp was less than pleased with his side’s implosion against Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie. The Reds shipped away two goals in the first half and lost 3-1 on the night. The German head coach raged at referee Felix Brych after the match and labelled him ‘unfair’.
Jurgen Klopp criticized referee Felix Brych following Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals loss to Real Madrid. The German accused the official of having a personal vendetta against Sadio Mane, who was tripped by Lucas Vazquez shortly before Real Madrid’s second goal.
Nevertheless, Klopp reiterated that Brych did not cost his team the game and that they were simply not good enough on the night.
For me, it was something personal. He dealt with a clean foul like it was a dive,
Klopp said after the match.
When [Mane] went down, it wasn’t right. I told [Brych] after I thought he was unfair with Sadio. But he didn’t lose us the game. We weren’t good enough.
The German tactician dissected his side’s loss following the game. He criticized his team for not troubling Real Madrid enough but acknowledged that the tie is not over yet.
If you want to go to the semi-final, you have to earn the right to do so. We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first half. The only good thing I can say, apart from the goal, is it’s only the first half of the tie.
He said.
Vinicius Jr gave Real Madrid the lead on the night as he raced onto a Toni Kroos pass before slotting the ball past Alisson in goal. Los Blancos went two goals up in the first half through Marco Asensio, who capitalized on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s blind back-header before flicking the ball past the goalkeeper.
Liverpool pulled one back in the second half through Mohamed Salah. The Egypt international slammed the ball past Thibaut Courtois in the Madrid goal, despite the Belgian’s best efforts to keep it out. However, Madrid restored their two-goal lead before full time as Vinicius scored past Alisson for the second time on the night.
