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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Neil Moxley

Liverpool's penalty shoot-out secrets emerge after Jurgen Klopp plan secures FA Cup win

Jurgen Klopp saluted his ‘mentality monsters’ and then revealed how the appliance of science helped him lift the FA Cup.

Liverpool's boss claimed the second leg of the quadruple with another penalty shoot-out victory over Chelsea - following on from their triumph over the Blues in the Carabao Cup.

Keeper Alisson Becker was one hero, saving from Mason Mount before sub Kostas Tsimikas fired home the winner to seal a 6-5 win following a goalless 120 minutes.

But Klopp revealed after the final whistle how German scientists had given him the edge when the trial from 12 yards became the only way of separating the finalists.

He said: “It’s out of this world. It’s massive, incredible. It’s game 60 - so a performance like this was incredible.

“It’s a trophy for the whole club. We saw what it meant to the supporters because we saw them out partying and you saw what it meant to the players by their performance.

“They were mentality monsters. But there were mentality monsters in blue as well. It was one penalty.

“So, respect to Chelsea, what a team, what a performance. In the end, we know the penalty shoot-out is a lottery but we did it again.

“And the trophy is also for four guys who work for a company - their name is Neuro11.

“We got in touch with them a few years ago. One of them was a neuroscientist. He said he could train us in penalty shooting.

“I said: ‘Really? That sounds interesting. Come over.' They came over. We worked together. And here we are. This trophy is for them, too.”

Klopp sounded calm when pressed about injuries to leading scorer Mo Salah and key defender Virgil Van Dijk.

Salah came off just after the half-hour mark with a suspected groin problem while his Dutch colleague was withdrawn during extra time.

But he said: “I spoke to both after the game. Both are okay. All we know is that it’s not a big thing. The next game is on Tuesday at Southampton. Whether they will be fit for that, I don’t know but I think they will both be fine.”

The FA Cup was the second leg of the quadruple and Klopp played down the possibility of landing both the Premier League and Champions League.

Manchester City hold a three-point advantage over them with two games to go and face West Ham at the Olympic Stadium this afternoon.

Kostas Tsimikas scored the winning penalty (Getty Images)

Will Liverpool win the quadruple Let us know in the comment section below

Klopp added: “We can talk about it like crazy. But as we sit here now it’s 9.20pm.

“We play Southampton on Tuesday night. I have no clue as to what will happen. We will have to make a few changes.

“At the moment, City have a three point lead and are five or six goals up. If they beat West Ham 4-0, then they have six points and a 10-goal lead. Then we have to win both our games and they have to lose.

“Let’s see what happens. If they lose tomorrow, then I will start thinking. If they don’t we will judge it from there.

"The second part of it, my boys drew against Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham. We have won the rest. If it’s not enough, we have to congratulate City.”

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