Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool’s defeat to Atletico Madrid felt bigger than losing three points.
Tuesday’s clash at the Wanda Metropolitano saw Diego Simeone’s side take an upper hand in their Champions League last 16 tie with the Reds.
The European champions struggled to break down their hosts in the Spanish capital and were undone by an early goal from midfielder Saul Niguez.
And Klopp believes the psychological impact of losing to Atleti had a greater knock-on effect for his players than suffering a Premier League reversal.
He said: “It’s a little bit strange. We lost the game and there are absolutely no positives in losing the game, but it’s important.
“If there are any help that result it is that you felt a defeat, and it felt like one.
“After the game it felt like a defeat, the next morning it felt a defeat. Nobody thought, ‘yeah, but in the league…’
“It’s like we said after the game; it is not done yet. It’s the truth but it’s not that we say Anfield alone will sort it at the end.
“We have to put the proper components in and Atletico showed a lot of passion and desire for the result and they will fight here for the result, 100 per cent.
“To put it right is to get the other feeling back, which I don’t think we ever lost how a win feels as we’ve won a few games.
“But now we lost it and the difference is massive, much more than three points. It’s from sunshine to hardest rain and that’s how it should be.
“If you really want to be successful, which we could have been in that game, it has to feel really bad. That’s how it felt.”
Klopp withdrew Sadio Mane at the interval in Madrid after the forward was singled out by Atleti players, who believed he should have been sent off.
The Liverpool manager revealed that his decision to substitute the Senegal international was a cautionary move amid fears he could be sent off.
“I spoke to him this morning, I asked was he surprised and he said ‘yes’,” revealed Klopp.
“I don’t think he had a chance, my honest opinion. We needed him physical, having contact with opponents.
“It’s part of the game, I don’t like it too much, the situation they created with eight players around the referee
“I didn’t believe we could complete the game with 11 with him on the pitch. But now he’s completely fine, he’s rested which is good as well.”