“Juve will not have been put under as much pressure in their own stadium as we put them under in the first half. It’s a clue as to how we will play against them in the return,” said Jürgen Klopp who went on to say that events in the second half meant the defeat was not, ultimately undeserved.

 

How annoyed are you at the result?

We did oh so many things right during the first half, pressured our opponents but both goals were too easily conceded. We weren’t able to repeat that in the second half. That was partly due to the fact that we had to make two changes to the one position which unbalanced us somewhat. Juve had two big chances in the second half; we none really so the 1-2 is fair enough. We couldn’t do more than we did today.

Why wasn’t it possible to pressure Juve for longer?

Juve were much less rigid once Pirlo had left the field. We ought to have dealt with that better and the first half took a lot out of us. We should have ensured better reward for those efforts. In the second half we lost the ball too often and weren’t able to build calmly. Maybe we were just a bit too tentative.

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What gives you confidence going into the return?

Juve will not have been put under as much pressure in their own stadium as we put them under in the first half. It’s a clue as to how we will play against them in the return. The result means we are still in the running, can still make it an exciting evening and we head home not too unhappy.

Did the Juventus aggression surprise you?

Juve did what Juve do. The team plays at a high tempo. In the second half we lost the ball in the wrong areas. No, I wasn’t surprised. I was just a little surprised that the foul on Piszczek didn’t provoke a yellow card.

Can you explain the mistakes that led to both goals?

Juve’s quality demands respect and that can lead to your playing deeper than you ought to. That was certainly the case for the first goal. Our last line was too deep. To say we didn’t defend well is a misinterpretation of the situation. It’s tough to get anything at Juve when you concede goals like that.

Any more news on Piszczek and Sokratis?

Piszczek has an ankle sprain, that’s sh**! Sokratis over stretched in the 37th minute. We hope he will be ready for the weekend. Neven Subotic and Kevin Kampl were the victims of a stomach bug.

Compiled by Boris Rupert