Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pinpoints moment Premier League title was lost to Manchester City
Klopp knew title was unrealistic after Burnley and Leicester results
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Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp believes that Manchester City’s wins over Burnley and Leicester City were the two moments when Liverpool lost any realistic hope of winning the Premier League title.
Klopp is hoping that Liverpool will end an excellent campaign with silverware on Saturday night, by beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final.
European glory would certainly ease the pain of narrowly missing out on a first domestic league title in 29 years, despite earning a club record of 97 points.
Klopp side’s would ultimately fall short, however, with City winning all of their last 14 league games to take 98 points overall and defend their crown.
City twice came close to dropping points during the run-in – first at Turf Moor, where they were held until Sergio Aguero’s 63rd-minute goal crossed by a margin of 29.5mm.
The following weekend, the champions struggled to break down Leicester at the Etihad until Vincent Kompany scored with his first shot on target from outside the box since 2013.
Klopp was not surprised to ultimately see Pep Guardiola lead City on a remarkable winning run to the title, but until the Burnley and Leicester wins, he felt Liverpool had a chance.
“The Burnley game was the moment,” Klopp said. “I hate to look at these games and hope another team has to lose or whatever, but the goal was a bit lucky, it was a goal.
“Kompany scores the goal against Leicester and you sit there and accept it. In that moment it was, for me, done.”
Liverpool briefly led the table ‘as it stands’ on the final day, after going 1-0 up against Wolverhampton Wanderers while City were held at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Glenn Murray’s opening for Brighton sparked scenes of celebration around Anfield, but Aguero equalised just 83 seconds later and City ultimately ran out 4-1 winners.
When asked whether he had felt down after the final day victory over Wolves, Klopp said: “I was rather ‘done’ than down. It was a long season, a really long season, it still is.
“I was completely fine with the situation, I was not surprised that it happened.
“For a minute or so we all had a bit of hope, we are human beings. You hear the [noise] and it sounded like they were 4-0 up it was that loud, but it was only 1-0.
“The Premier League season was brilliant, I was not surprised that we didn’t win it at the end because I had to respect the quality.”
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