Klopp rues Liverpool’s ‘slapstick’ finishing against Inter

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said they deserved to go through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by 10-man Inter Milan, but the German was not too pleased with his team’s “slapstick” finishing.

Liverpool progressed with a 2-1 aggregate victory but Klopp’s side squandered a number of chances in the second leg, with Joel Matip heading against the bar and Mohamed Salah hitting the post twice. Read full story

A superb drive into the top corner from Lautaro Martinez in the 62nd minute sealed the win for Inter and ended Liverpool’s seven-match winning run in the competition but Klopp said the match was one his team could afford to lose.

“It’s not that I’m over the moon – I’m really happy we went through, because when we saw the draw it was ‘OK, that’s a tough one’. But we went through over two legs and I think we deserved it,” Klopp told reporters.

“It’s a big ‘if’ but if we had used our chances from set pieces and other situations – it was a bit slapstick how we missed the chances – in the end we could still have won.

“But the only thing I’m interested in is that it’s fair we are through.”

Salah said that he hoped to make up for his misses.

“I hit the post twice, it’s OK – maybe next game I’ll score three. I don’t mind so much when the team qualifies,” Salah, who has scored 27 goals in all competitions so far this season, told BT Sport.

“This is a good game to learn from, it’s always important to win but sometimes, like tonight, you hit the post twice and you miss chances, it can happen. The good thing is that it’s not in the league, and we have qualified. That’s great.”