Juergen Klopp has not ruled out a bid for a Champions League berth in the remaining weeks of the season after Liverpool’s 6-1 thrashing of Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday.
Liverpool won for the first time in six games in all competitions since early March, when they defeated Manchester United 7-0, thanks to a record home Premier League defeat of woeful Leeds, who are fighting relegation.
“I think it’s the best game we’ve played this season from all different perspectives,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “We forced a lot of errors, sensational goals and counter-pressing, the best game for long time.
“There were a couple of tough moments, we conceded an unnecessary goal, but these things happen. Apart from that we were in control of the game.”
Klopp has stated that he will always judge his players based on performance rather than the number of goals they score, despite Liverpool’s 9-0 Premier League and 7-1 Champions League wins over Bournemouth so far this season.
“I’m not bothered about scoring six, it’s about the performance. This was a winning performance,” he said.
“We can be super offensive orientated if we react in the right moment. I can’t explain why our counter-pressing didn’t work (earlier this season) but tonight it clicked.
“I’m not sure how many goals we scored after we won the ball back – that makes all the difference.”
Klopp has stated that Liverpool’s only hope is to win their next eight matches and hope that the teams ahead of them make mistakes. Liverpool is currently nine points behind Newcastle United for the fourth Champions League qualification slot.
“They can win all their games and we win all our games and there is no chance to change anything,” he said. “We have to play really good football. If we do, we will get results and then we see where we end up on the table.”
