Liverpool’s easy Europa League victory over Sparta Prague meant they could already start focusing on the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United this weekend, manager Juergen Klopp told the Liverpool conference on Friday. press.
Klopp’s side led 5-1 after the first leg and on Thursday they quickly took a 4-0 lead after 14 minutes, securing their qualification for the quarter-finals. In the end, Liverpool won the match 6-1 and won 11-2 on aggregate. “We were up 4-0 and that’s when you think, well, we can get x, y and z out now. I don’t think we would have fielded Robbo (Andrew Robertson) as a central defender if we were 0-0 or 2-0 down,” Klopp told a press conference ahead of Sunday’s match.
“It’s really strange, you can’t believe you’re up 4-1 at half-time and 9-2 on aggregate, so even the biggest pessimist didn’t think we wouldn’t go through. Usually you really don’t have the time or resources to think about the next game.”
Ibrahima Konate missed Thursday’s match and last weekend’s draw against Manchester City with a thigh injury, and Klopp is waiting to see if he will be able to train tomorrow, but said he was not optimistic about his chances of winning the race against time.