Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool still have “a lot to do” despite praising a “mature” performance that saw his side take control of their Champions League quarter-final.
First-half goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino earned the Reds a 2-0 win over Porto in their first leg at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Liverpool , though, had to withstand periods of concerted pressure from the Portuguese side, with Alisson Becker making two fine saves from Moussa Marega in the first half.
And Klopp is pleased with the advantage his team take for what he expects will be a tough night in the return leg at the Estadio do Dragao next Wednesday.
“It was a good game, a controlled game,” he said. “We deserved the win, 100%.
All the reaction to last night's 2-0 can be found HERE
“We scored two wonderful goals and were in a lot of really dangerous situations, especially on the right side with Mo (Salah) and Hendo (Jordan Henderson) and Trent (Alexander-Arnold) coming with the crosses and passes.
“Overall, a real good performance.
“I would have loved if Sadio ’s goal would have counted because it was a brilliant situation. But all good, 2-0. 2-0 is a really, really good result. I would have bought it before the game and I will take it now!
“The game is still on, we still have to go there and Porto will try everything to strike back. That will be a tough game again, but that’s how it should be in the quarter-final. We will be ready.
“There’s still a lot to do, and we know that. The atmosphere in Portugal will be tough. But this is the result we wanted, and now we have it. Now we have to work with it.”
Having earned a half-time advantage, Liverpool delivered a controlled display in the second half to ensure their fourth successive home clean sheet in the Champions League this season and extend their unbeaten home European run to 21 games.
Porto's Iker Casillas hits out at Liverpool's Mohamed Salah after Champions League clash at Anfield
And Klopp said: “There were a lot of good performances. It was really mature against a difficult side.
“Finding the 100% mix of control and being a threat constantly, we were close to that tonight.
“We probably didn’t have as many chances as we wish in the second half, but controlling happens in different ways. The best way is with the ball. When we lost it, we had to do a lot of work to get it back.
“That’s not too cool, but we had fantastic counter-press situations, protection was brilliant second half.
“Their formation had one-and-a-half strikers, and against Southampton that was a bit of a problem in the first half, but we did it well tonight. I liked a lot of parts of the game.”
