Manager Jurgen Klopp kept repeating the narrative- his Liverpool team wasn’t actually participating in the derby to make the top four/achieve Champions League qualification. The media refused to believe him, and articles about the Reds UCL chances abounded despite what the table showed.
To their credit, Liverpool did make a great run at trying to get into the Champions League for next season, but after Saturday’s results it is now all but over.
Jurgen Klopp admitted this, as he extolled the virtues of the UEFA Europa League. The German said that his side will make that competition their own in 20230-24.
“We will make it [the Europa League] our competition,” Klopp said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“I am not that spoilt. That we are already qualified for the Europa League is incredible with all these teams around us. That’s really difficult and we did it, that is good.
For so long we couldn’t even hear the sound of the Champions League, that’s how far away we were. The Europe League is absolutely fine. Let’s see what we can do.”
Jurgen Klopp watched yesterday’s absolutely thrilling draw with Aston Villa from the Anfield skyboxes, as he was serving the first of his two game touchline ban. The game saw Bobby Firmino score an equalizer, very very late on, in order to salvage a point.
Had the Brazilian not equalized, Liverpool would have been mathematically eliminated, so that was a massive moment for the superlative forward in his Anfield send-off.
As it stands now, the only way Liverpool can get in to the UCL is if both of the teams in front of them lose both their remaining matches and they beat Southampton FC on Championship Sunday.
Basically, it is over for the Reds, as the two teams in front of them only need to get one point from their final two in order to clinch top four.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.