LIVERPOOL – Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s agonising failure to win the Premier League title was the “story of my life” as the German had to settle for second place behind Manchester City again.
Klopp’s side were within touching distance of the title for a few precious minutes at Anfield yesterday as they chased a winning goal against Wolves while City trailed 2-0 against Aston Villa.
But, in a dramatic finish to the title race, City scored three times in the closing stages to win 3-2 and take the trophy by one point from second-placed Liverpool.
The Reds’ 3-1 victory over Wolves was rendered irrelevant by City’s epic comeback, leaving Klopp to rue a second last-day title blow inflicted by Pep Guardiola’s team.
City had edged out Liverpool in the 2019 title race, while Klopp endured two last-day failures to win promotion to the Bundesliga during his time as Mainz boss.
“Congratulations to Man City and Pep Guardiola. Thank you to Aston Villa and Wolverhampton for making a proper game of it,” Klopp said.
“It’s not the result we wanted. It was a bit of a rollercoaster. I don’t know the results exactly but I know Villa were 1-0 up –- were they 2-0 up as well? Of course at the moment there’s disappointment here as well.
“92 points is absolutely incredible. We wanted it all, but now it’s OK.
“Finishing second is the story of my life. I’m still record holder for not getting promoted in Germany with the highest points tally. You need to get more points than any other teams, but we didn’t do that.”
Despite Klopp’s lament, he has led Liverpool to FA Cup and League Cup glory this term and can win a third trophy if they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The German has also won the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Klopp insisted Liverpool had nothing to be ashamed of after cutting into the 14-point lead City held at the top in January to take the title race to the wire.
Hailing City as the world’s best team, he said: “You can’t do more than give your absolute best and that’s what the boys did again.
“We chased the best team in the world to the wire, that’s absolutely special. We’ll build a team again and go again.”
Klopp’s main concern ahead of the Champions League final is an injury to Thiago Alcantara that is likely to rule out the influential midfielder.
“I think he’ll be out of the final but I don’t know. He’s limping, so it’s maybe not the best sign,” he said. – AFP, May 23, 2022
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