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As the sound of the final whistle echoed in the silent stadium of Anfield, Jurgen Klopp the entire Liverpool fan base was left in a state of disbelief. Last year when Liverpool bid farewell to thier Champions League dreams in the final Klopp was fully assured that Liverpool would reignite their Champions League dream next season.
"Book your hotels for next year's Champions League final" he even made this statement in the post-match conference with the hope that his team would re-create the 2005 UEFA Champions League final. But now his statement feels as if it belongs to a different lifetime. As Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema orchestrated Liverpool's downfall and broke down the gates of their fortress Jurgen Klopp was left with a big question in his mind. Can his team turn the tables around at Santiago Bernabeu? And if not then what is next for him and his beloved team? Klopp addressed the fact about whether this tie is over or not. In the post-match conference, he said that "I think Carlo thinks the tie is over - and I think it as well in the moment, but in three weeks... it's how it is in these moments, the closer you get to the game the bigger our chances become and the less likely it is the tie is over. Tonight, with the 5-2 and you see the game, they are pretty good in counter-attacking and we have to score three goals there and take some risk, so that could be a bit tricky. It is really not even in my mind. We go there, I can say it now already, and try to win the game. If that is possible or not, I don't know now but that's what we will try and from there we will see." Liverpool would have never fallen into this dilemma if they managed to avoid the mistakes they made after securing a two-goal advantage inside the first 15 minutes of the game. Klopp had a similar take on this fact as well. In the post-match conference, he said that: "I really think everything was pretty obvious tonight; I think we gave all five goals away and that means we could have done better there, but they were all obviously different. The start in the game, in our situation where we are, it is really important that we see positive steps - and I think the first half was, besides the two goals we conceded, the best we've played for probably the whole season." The way Klopp has addressed the entire post-match conference there is a hint that he still believes that his team can defy the odds and make a comeback in the second leg of this fixture. Liverpool did make a remarkable comeback against Barcelona in 2019. Now it will be interesting to see whether they can produce another spectacle but this time it has to be against the undisputed UCL kings. (ANI)
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