Super anniversary and great draw
Joker Klopp experiences the perfect Easter Sunday
April 1, 2024, 7:33 a.m
Almost everything went perfectly for Jürgen Klopp on Easter Sunday. He celebrated a hard-fought victory with his own team in the anniversary game, and a little later Liverpool’s title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal FC shared the points. Klopp is “really happy”.
His 300th victory as coach of Liverpool FC “naturally” put a smile on Jürgen Klopp’s face. “I’m really happy with how we managed it, three points, let’s move on,” said the very good-humored team manager on the Sky microphone – he didn’t even know that after the international break he would have more than “just” that celebrated the hard-fought 2-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
On his long farewell tour, the 56-year-old and the Reds are once again in pole position in the tight Premier League title race. Thanks to the goalless draw in the direct duel between their big rivals Manchester City and Arsenal FC, LFC took over the top of the table nine game days before the end of the season.
“That both lose”
After the narrow success against Brighton & Hove Albion, coached by Roberto De Zerbi, Klopp joked. What outcome did he most want for the subsequent big game in Manchester? “That both of them lose,” Klopp replied – and even if the result obviously didn’t reflect that, his wish was fulfilled in a way by the draw.
Previous leaders Arsenal were unable to distance themselves from City, and triple winners City were unable to put any pressure on Liverpool. With 67 points, Liverpool are now two points ahead of Arsenal (65), with Champions League winners City following in third (64). There will be no more direct duels between the three rivals in the further course of the Premier League season. City team manager Pep Guardiola demonstratively handed Liverpool the role of favorite: “Whoever is in front is always the favorite.”
Klopp is in a chatting mood
Kai Havertz didn’t want to speculate. “I think it’s too early to look into the future now. We still have nine games left. So much can happen,” said the Arsenal international. The three teams would “leave almost no points behind. And yes, we have to concentrate on ourselves, try to win our games, get points and then we’ll see what happens in the end.”
The same should apply to Klopp, who, when asked about his anniversary victory as LFC team manager, was particularly interested in his lost games. “I could immediately think of a number of games that we absolutely didn’t have to lose,” said Klopp in a chatty mood. “We could have achieved 300 wins earlier.”
If a few more successes are added, Klopp could say goodbye at the end of the season with more than the English League Cup title he has already won. In the Europa League, Liverpool is favored in the quarter-finals against Atalanta Bergamo; in the Premier League, the prospects of his second championship with Liverpool after 2020 have definitely improved since Sunday. “We’ll see how it turns out,” said Klopp: “I’ve decided that I’ll really do my best to enjoy it.”