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Jurgen Klopp lays out challenge to his Liverpool players after Maribor rout

Jurgen Klopp toasted a moral boosting Champions League win: Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Jurgen Klopp toasted a moral boosting Champions League win: Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side answered some of their critics with a sparkling 7-0 win against Maribor in the Champions League, as he suggesting the attitude of his positive attitude of his players paved the way for a record breaking win.

Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah both scored twice while Philippe Coutinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold also found the net on a night when Liverpool secured only their second win in nine matches.

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The rout against the Slovenian champions was Liverpool’s biggest away win in Europe in their illustrious history, with Klopp full of praise of his players as they rediscovered a ruthless streak after a run of frustrating results.

Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho were all on the scoresheet for Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho were all on the scoresheet for Liverpool.

“Our attitude was outstanding, we were spot on from the first second,” declared Klopp. “We scored wonderful goals, played wonderful football and it looked like they (Maribor) were not very good but is difficult to play against us. I love the fact we stayed really concentrated in the second half, we controlled the game and it was a very mature performance.

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“You can struggle in a game like this if you do not have a 100% attitude, it was very mature. Seven goals was wonderful, but the counter pressing I was close to celebrating it, it was so good. They are a really good football team and they could not cope with this. All over it was a really nice performance.

“From the first second, this is exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to show the best counter pressing in the last few weeks because I really felt our attacking play was good against (Manchester) United, but I felt we could have done more counter-pressing and we did that tonight.

“We scored the first goal from a pressing situation and it showed that it helped a lot. How we finished the chances was also good. We were cool enough and we have not always been relaxed enough in the box this season.

“They showed at times how good they could be, but we never gave up and it was a really, really good performance all round. You cannot win 7-0 unless it is a good obviously. Now we need consistency, bring it on the pitch, bring it on the pitch, bring it on the pitch. Our basis is good.”

Two-goal hero Mohamed Salah was elated as Klopp’s side banished their scoring woes of recent weeks, with Sunday’s game against Tottenham at Wembley now crucial to Liverpool’s hopes of getting back onto the Premier League title race.

“I think it was a great game, we did good, it was an important result for us and we have to keep looking forward,” Salah told BT Sport.

“The team did good, we had a good result and that is the most important thing. I’m very happy, now we have to concentrate on improving the results in the Premier League and keep on moving forward. We had bad luck in the last three or four games. Everyone was confident a good result was coming.”