“This year, with the amount of injuries we have had, it was not the year to become champions.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that Manchester City would not have won the Premier League this season if they had suffered the same injury crisis as Liverpool have.
Last season’s PFA Player of the Year Virgil Van Dijk and centre back partner Joe Gomez have both missed most of the season with knee injuries for the Reds, injuries that were swiftly followed by significant ones to defender Joel Matip, midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson and Portuguese forward Diogo Jota.
And ahead of the final round of fixtures on Sunday, Klopp has suggested that there is no side in the league that would have been able to cope with so many injuries.
“With our injuries it was not the year to become champions,” Klopp said.
“No chance – for nobody.
“As good as they are, if City have their three centre-halves out, no [they don’t win the league]. Three centre-halves of [Manchester] United, no.
“We have fought back a bit, accepted the difficulties and made the best of it, and if we win on Sunday, and if we qualify for the Champions League, then we made the best of it. That is it.”
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Liverpool were top of the league at Christmas but have faltered massively in the second half of the season, meaning that they go into the final weekend facing a battle with Chelsea and Leicester to secure a top four finish.
They have finished the season strongly though. After losing a club-record six consecutive home Premier League games, they have gone on to win seven of their last nine games in the league.
Klopp was full of praise for his team’s mental strength, having labelled his players as “mentality monsters” in their title-winning campaign last season.
“It is clear we wouldn’t come to this situation if the boys wouldn’t have showed this kind of character. They have very special character,” he added.
“The boys proved it now millions of times, it’s not about their mentality or character if something has gone wrong. Going through tough periods makes you stronger as a unit and in that time we didn’t get distracted. Nothing came between us.
“Yes we had our moments, players were not in the best shape or the best mood. I was not in the best mood, but we always found a way to stick together. We never blamed each other or pointed a finger at each other and said, ‘It is because of you or you’.
“So whatever happens on Sunday, we found our way out to bring us to this situation.”
