Klopp hails ‘exceptional’ Liverpool as ‘one of best ever’

Jurgen Klopp has hailed his squad as “one of the best ever to have played for Liverpool”.

Liverpool rounded off a remarkable Premier League season with a 2-0 win over Wolves on Sunday, edging them to 97 points.

But they missed out on their first English title since 1990 due to Manchester City’s own brand of brilliance, with Pep Guardiola’s side pipping them to the crown by a single point.

Liverpool still have hope of ending their seven-year trophy drought in the Champions League final against Tottenham next month, but Klopp believes they have enjoyed an “exceptional” campaign regardless.

“If I would start telling you all the positive things I could say about this team, we could sit here and go until an hour before the Champions League final starts. That’s the truth,” he said.

“I can read all the stats. I can read all the numbers. It’s just really exceptional.

“If you could get an award for the biggest development jump I can remember, then the boys would get that. We have made a big step. Unbelievable. And there is more to come.

“But it doesn’t feel like that in a moment like this. It’s not a moment for telling people what they already think. You feel the disappointment as well. That’s what we feel at the moment.

“If we are ready to make the next step, we will make the next step. That’s the plan from tomorrow on. But it’s not really the moment for that. We have to feel it and we do feel it.

“It’s disappointing. It’s not a wonderful moment. It’s not. But we have enough time to find out, see and feel how brilliant the season was. It was brilliant – 97 points was incredible. And only because City is there, it’s not enough. In each other country it would have been easily enough but here, that’s how it is.

“No problem with that. That is the competition we are in. It’s not a competition of 30 years ago, 20 years ago or 10 years ago, it’s completely different.

“It’s pretty special. This team is one of the best ever to have played for Liverpool, 100 per cent. But we play in the league with other very good teams which we have to accept, we do accept.”