Jurgen Klopp has saluted Liverpool’s ‘mentality giants’ for reaching the Champions League final.
A 4-3 aggregate win over Barcelona ensured the Reds will take part in the showpiece of Europe’s premier club competition for a second season running.
The hosts had to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first leg in Tuesday’s return fixture at Anfield – a task which many had written them off beforehand.
But the Liverpool manager believes his players’ strength of character was integral in reversing the result against the Spanish champions.
“It’s a special night, very special. Winning against Barcelona is obviously one of the most difficult things in the world of football,” said Klopp.
“Winning against Barcelona when you are actually 3-0 down makes it not easier. We had to score four goals and it was not allowed to concede pretty much.
“That made it again more difficult. So we didn’t really think about it, to be 100 per cent honest.
“We tried to build on the performance at Barcelona, all the good things we did there, and tried to win the game step by step.
“We have the ball, we attack with whatever we have. They have the ball, we defend with whatever we have. And that made it a really special game.
“It was really difficult to play against us tonight.
“What the boys did, this mix again of big heart and football skills, is unbelievable. But then, how we know and we didn’t learn it in the first game.
“We knew it before already – if you have chances you have to score because otherwise you get punished. Tonight we scored, in different ways.
“I said it so often now, the thing that made it really possible – I said to the boys before the game, ‘I don’t think it’s possible but because it’s you I think we have a chance’ – is because they are really mentality giants.”