"I loved them before but I fell in love again" - Jurgen Klopp hails 'incredible character' of Liverpool squad
Liverpool got the better of Leicester City in a pulsating Carabao Cup quarterfinal match at Anfield. The Reds showed incredible grit and determination to come back from a 3-1 deficit and take it to penalties where they triumphed 5-4 over the Foxes.
Liverpool made plenty of changes to their squad with youngsters Billy Koumetio, Connor Bradley, Neco Williams and Tyler Morton all starting. Leicester City, who went in with a strong starting XI dominated the first half and went into the break with a 3-1 lead.
Jurgen Klopp rang the changes at half-time, bringing on Diogo Jota, James Milner and Ibrahima Konate. The move soon paid dividends as Jota slammed in the second goal after some good interplay between Firmino and Minamino.
“This club is so special. Honestly, I love it so much, it’s unbelievable. If I’d known how good this club is, how much we mean to each other, I’d have come here much earlier.”
Great, this. ♥️
https://t.co/0uS5Taoudw
Minamino then scored a brilliant late equalizer in injury time to take the game to penalties where Kelleher pulled off 2 amazing saves to send Liverpool into the semi-finals. Speaking after the game to LFC TV, Klopp said:
"I love them. Honestly, I loved them before but I fell in love again because it's such an incredible character. What they show more often than not, yeah it's absolutely insane. I'm so happy with this performance tonight, even in the first half, because to develop you have to make mistakes."
"So we made a few changes in the second half and it's still not easy to turn a game around like this with all the momentum Leicester had from the first half. But what the boys did then, wow, outstanding."
"It is a special group" - Klopp thrilled with Liverpool squad dynamics
Liverpool have some talented youngsters coming through and Jurgen Klopp was quick to point out the unity between the experienced players and the youngsters. The Liverpool manager said:
"It's a special group,absolutely special group. Like I said I was in love with them before the game, I fell in love again. It's so nice that the young kids coming up, really breathing in all the things from the more experienced boys, how the more experienced boys deal with them.
𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗘. 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗔. 😱
Enjoy every angle of @takumina0116's fantastic injury-time equaliser! 👏⚽️ https://t.co/Vk9uCp5DUz
Liverpool have been drawn against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. With the first leg of the tie scheduled to be played on January 4th, it will be interesting to see how much Jurgen Klopp rotates his squad for the encounter.