Jürgen Klopp: ‘You have to make sure you don’t do it again’

Manager describes missed Liverpool chances as ‘slapstick’

Jürgen Klopp insisted Liverpool deserved to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals despite the defeat in the second leg of their tie with Internazionale but called on his side to avoid a repeat of the performance that consigned them to a first home defeat in over a year and yielded a nervous evening for everyone present at Anfield.

Related: Martínez cracker gives Inter hope but Liverpool advance after Sánchez red

Lautaro Martínez’s second-half strike breathed life into the tie after Liverpool’s 2-0 win in Milan three weeks ago, but within seconds of the Argentinian’s long-range effort Alexis Sánchez was shown a second yellow card for a tackle on Fabinho to hand the momentum back to Klopp’s side.

Liverpool had enough chances of their own to kill the tie long before Martínez’s goal, with Mohamed Salah striking the post twice, Joël Matip heading the ball against the crossbar and a remarkable last-ditch clearance from Arturo Vidal denying Luis Díaz in the final moments. But Klopp said that while he felt his side did enough over the two legs, the performance at Anfield acts as a warning for the challenges which lie ahead.

“These things can happen, but you have to make sure you don’t do it again and be better next time,” he said. “We could have played better, but not too much better because the opponent was really good. The art of football is to lose the right games. If there was any game we could have afforded to lose it was tonight, because the main target of this competition is to get through. But it’s not that I’m sat here over the moon.”

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Klopp said: “It’s fair we’re through against a really strong opponent and now, let’s carry on. Over the two legs we deserved to go through, but we had some problems tonight, and one of those was the quality of the opposition.”

Related: Joël Matip showcases Liverpool’s defensive steel despite Inter defeat | Andy Hunter

Klopp described some of Liverpool’s missed chances as slapstick, adding his frustration about aspects of their performance, particularly in the first half.

“I didn’t like our counterpress, we lost the ball in strange moments and then you have to chase the situation,” he said.

Klopp insisted there could be no complaints with Sánchez’s dismissal, saying the Chilean was fortunate not to have been sent off for a challenge on Thiago in the first half. “He was quite lucky he didn’t get a different colour for that foul,” he said. “Passion is good, but if it leads to those things, it doesn’t help.”