United beat their bitter rivals to a place in the semi-finals of this year’s competition after an Old Trafford classic, with Amad Diallo finding the net deep into extra-time to end Liverpool’s hopes of completing a historic quadruple.
The Merseyside giants will be out for revenge when they return to the Theatre of Dreams to face the Red Devils this weekend, looking to tighten their grip at the top of the Premier League table in what is Klopp’s farewell season.
Despite enjoying 58 per cent of the possession in the sides’ previous meeting in the cup, Liverpool were unable to make the pressure count and Klopp’s frustration turned to anger as he spoke with Viaplay’s Niels Christian Frederiksen shortly after the final whistle.
‘Normally intensity is the name of your game, so how come it became so difficult in extra time?’ Frederiksen asked the Liverpool head coach.
Less than impressed by Frederiksen’s line of questioning, a bemused Klopp snapped back, ‘A bit of a dumb question I feel…’, before saying, ‘Come on, you are obviously not in a great shape and I have no nerves for you’, and walking out of the interview.
The Reds have bounced back from the loss to United before the international break, winning their last two matches in the Premier League against Brighton and Sheffield United respectively.
Now that the dust has settled on United’s victory, Klopp has explained why the post-match interview left him so furious, with the German highlighting how many games Liverpool had played in comparison to their opposition in the build-up.
‘There was this famous interview afterwards I knew what would happen actually,’ Klopp said.
‘I was really calm after the game. I wasn’t even angry, because I knew that, yes, we had to win it in this period. The first 15-20 minutes United were there, really aggressive and scored the goal.
‘But then we took over and it was the best we played against them for a while, for sure. There was really good football without scoring.
‘Then after 90 minutes, I saw minute by minute it was too much. It was the end of this intense spell, after all the games we played, extra time was a killer for us.
‘It was the first time I saw us struggling. It was too much for this specific group, with the way we had to change, with the players coming back just in time for this game and these kind of things. But I was not angry.
‘Then the guy asked me about intensity and that was just when it snapped.
‘As if anybody would be interested in the intensity or why you cannot keep up the intensity with them? United played I don’t know how many less games than we had until then.’
According to Klopp, Liverpool simply ‘did not have the legs’ to get over the line against United as the game went to extra-time.
‘The game was brilliant in moments, absolutely brilliant, but we did not have the legs that day obviously to use it,’ the former Borussia Dortmund boss added.
‘You saw these quick attacks we had, these four versus three situations, and then unlikely for us we pretty consistently found the wrong player to finish it off.
‘There is nothing you can do. That is just when the brain is not really fresh and the boys don’t see the right solution. You have to accept it and I did.’
United find themselves under intense pressure ahead of their clash with Liverpool, with Erik ten Hag’s conceding two stoppage-time goals to lose 4-3 in Thursday’s epic with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
And while Champions League qualification now seems out of reach for United, Ten Hag insists he is ‘enjoying’ the ‘challenge’ and expects to stay on at the club beyond the end of the season.
‘I don’t have any doubts,’ the Dutchman told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s heavyweight clash.
‘I’m just focusing on my job, focusing on this process, in this project. I really love to be here, I’m enjoying it. For me it’s a challenge.’
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