Liverpool may have reached the Champions League semi-finals with a 6-4 aggregate win over S.L. Benfica, but manager Jurgen Klopp says that he takes responsibility for their fragility in Wednesday night\u2019s 3-3 second leg draw against the Portuguese side.<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe Reds had led 1-0 and 3-1 at Anfield with little more than 25 minutes remaining, though conceded to both Roman Yaremchuk and Darwin Nunez in the closing stages. Visitors Benfica also saw two goals ruled out for offside on the night with Liverpool far from their best throughout.<\/p>\n
Speaking in his press conference having guided the club to a third UCL semi-final in his near seven-year tenure, German boss Klopp didn\u2019t shy away from the blame.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you defend in the Champions League quarter-finals, it\u2019s about the details,\u201d said Klopp.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of defending to put the opponent [into an] offside [position] and tonight it didn\u2019t work out too well but that\u2019s my fault because I made seven changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last line have never played together like this. When we lost the ball, our protection was obviously not perfect. We missed the boys of the last line, the voice of the last line – Virgil [Van Dijk].<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that we will talk about the game, the goals we conceded, and all of these things, but the day when I\u2019m not over the moon about qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals is when something\u2019s really wrong. Maybe then it would be the right time to quit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never take something like this for granted, I\u2019m really really happy.”<\/p>\n
When Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino volleyed home his second of the evening in front of the Kop to put Liverpool 6-2 up on aggregate, most inside Anfield \u2013 and probably beyond \u2013 could not foresee Benfica\u2019s comeback.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese side \u2013 struggling in their own league this season \u2013 could have snatched it at the death too, denied yet again by the offside flag with almost the last kick of the game.<\/p>\n
Klopp praised Nelson Verissimo\u2019s side and admitted he was no different to anybody else in terms of the thinking with a two-goal lead on the night.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe are human beings, we think \u2018Okay, job done!\u2019 and Benfica were still on fire, I respect that a lot. They scored really good goals, but it should not be that easy against us.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone, me included, thought [at 3-1] that\u2019s it. Benfica thought let\u2019s give it a try and I couldn\u2019t respect that more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deserved the three goals, that\u2019s just how it is. Of course, we could have scored more, that\u2019s clear. I know about challenges in football games which you face constantly and tonight it was after 3-1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albeit with an off-colour performance, now that Klopp\u2019s side have secured their place in the last four of the Champions League, their hunt for an unprecedented quadruple is still very much alive and kicking.<\/p>\n
The train now rolls onto its next destination for the red half of Merseyside, stopping off at Wembley this Saturday for an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. The Citizens also qualified for the semis of the Champions League after beating Spanish side Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n
Follow\u00a0us on Twitter\u00a0<\/i><\/b>@ProstInt<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n[column size=”1\/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”62″ heading=”UEFA Champions League” heading_type=”timeline” \/] [\/column]
\n[column size=”1\/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”527″ heading=”Liverpool” heading_type=”timeline” \/] [\/column]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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