Jurgen Klopp praises Liverpool after play-off victory: 'The start of the game was like a thunderstorm'
The Reds beat Hoffenheim 6-3 on aggregate to book their place in the Champions League group stages
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp hailed his Liverpool players for starting “like a thunderstorm” as three goals in the first 21 minutes blew Hoffenheim away and secured a place for his side in the Champions League group stages.
A brace from Emre Can, scored either side of a Mohamed Salah strike, saw Liverpool build on their 2-1 first-leg advantage early on, but a reply from Mark Uth made for a tense end to the first 45 minutes.
Liverpool re-emerged more composed after the break and later restored their four-goal aggregate lead through Roberto Firmino and despite Sandro Wagner notching with a header 11 minutes from time, the tie had already been taken away from Hoffenheim.
Klopp was delighted with his side’s start and revealed that it was always their intention to make an early impact.
“The start of the game was like a thunderstorm,” he said. “If you win away 2-1 the opponent could imagine that you'd sit back and wait to counter attack. We thought it would make sense to do it differently, high pressure. We did it really well, what we played was really fantastic.
“Usually after 3-0 that early, it's normal that there is a little break. I don't like it but it's normal,” he added. “This game was crazy, it could have ended 9-7 but even then we would have been in the group stage, so it was deserved.
“It's what we worked for in the last 14 months. You will find people who say 'yeah it's just Champions League'. We wanted to be a part of it with all we have, and I thought the boys played a few pieces of outstanding football.
“Against an opponent like Hoffenheim you always have a few problems, that's how it is, but I'm really happy about the deserved qualification for the group stages.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments