Jürgen Klopp declared himself delighted to take Liverpool into the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in his reign and said he would never take such achievements for granted. Liverpool gave up a 3-1 lead to draw 3‑3 against Benfica but progressed 6-4 on aggregate with an Ibrahima Konaté header and a Roberto Firmino brace securing a date with Villarreal in the last four.
Klopp made seven changes before the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City on Saturday and blamed himself for the defensive difficulties of a back four who had never played together. “It was not exactly what we wanted but it is absolutely not important because if we played the best game of the season it wouldn’t have made it more likely to get to the final,” he said. “We never take something like this for granted. I am really happy. I know people talk about goals conceded but the day I am not over the moon about getting to the Champions League semi-final, something is really wrong.”
Klopp confined Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Thiago Alcãntara and Fabinho to cameos and left Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as unused substitutes.
Benfica capitalised on their absence and Klopp said: “They scored really good goals but it should not be as easy as it was tonight. The only problem was when we lost the ball our protection was not perfect. To put the opponent offside didn’t work out too well but that is my fault.”
Villarreal eliminated Bayern Munich and Klopp is expecting a difficult game against the Europa League holders. “Over both games Villarreal deserved to get through. They have probably the most successful cup competition manager in world football so he knows what he is doing. Unai Emery is the king of the cups. It is unbelievable what he is doing.”
