Liverpool star reveals what Klopp said at HT v Man City

Georginio Wijnaldum says that Jurgen Klopp told Liverpool not to be “scared” at half-time in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.

Liverpool thrashed City 3-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final, but were wary of the attacking threat posed by the Premier League champions.

City reduced the deficit after just two minutes of the second leg through Gabriel Jesus, meaning they needed just two goals in 88 minutes to overhaul the first-leg thrashing.

But Liverpool held on until half-time before Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino struck in the second half to secure both a win on the night and on aggregate.

Wijnaldum, who played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, has revealed what Klopp said to his players at half-time.

“I think we were too impressed by the way City were playing,” Wijnaldum said.

“We were surprised I think with their unbelievable attacking speed, we weren’t really ready for what was to come. We were dropping too deep.

“We were lucky the game has two halves as we could recover after the first half and play a good second half.

“At half-time the manager said we didn’t need to be scared, we just had to play our own game and if we played football we would create chances.

“There was so much space in behind because they were playing with five or six attackers. I think he showed us on the screen.

“You always learn from games. We know what we can expect.”