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Jürgen Klopp saluted his 'sensational group' of players for their efforts that earned Champions League qualification at the conclusion of a tough season.
Sunday’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in front of 10,000 fans at Anfield secured a third-placed finish in the Premier League for Liverpool, who collected an impressive haul of 26 points from their final 10 games of the campaign.
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And Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com: “This is a sensational group and that’s the good thing: in all the tough times, there was nothing [of] pointing fingers at others and saying, ‘It’s because of that or because of that.’ We just went through it.*
“Yes, it was tough but we went through it and here we are. If you don’t give up you have a proper chance and this was never the year to become champion for us, we had too many problems.*
“But who cares? There must be other targets and we are third in this incredibly strong league, that’s insane! That’s the third-best finish we ever had since I am here, so not too bad! I am really happy.”
The boss had, of course, previously labelled his squad ‘mentality monsters’ for their incredible feats in recent years.*
“Honestly, I was never self-confident enough this season, even in the last few weeks, to use that phrase,” he said, with a smile.
“I think the boys did an incredible job, but there were not a lot of moments where it felt, really, like that. Eight [wins] out of the last 10 [games], it never felt [like that].*
“I said it today before the game to the boys, it’s our fault that it never felt [like that] but it was maybe because it was so hard. We had so many problems.*
“As an example, the two centre-halves today got cuts, both get stitched, all fine - but Rhys [Williams] didn’t train since Burnley. So, after Burnley, happy camp, all good… Rhys needs a scan, hamstring. That was the year, pretty much: worrying constantly about something!
“And here we are, finished, in third. I have no words for that, it’s absolutely incredible. I would have never bet a penny on that but here we are.”
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