Jurgen Klopp has explained what he showed his Liverpool players at half-time during their dramatic draw away at the home of title rivals Manchester City.
The Reds boss was talking after his Liverpool side played out a dramatic 2-2 draw at the home of their title rivals in a clash that saw them equalise twice having gone behind to strikes from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus. Though Liverpool huffed and puffed at times, City will be the happier with the game ending honours even.
The first 45 minutes ended with City boasting a 2-1 lead, but whatever Klopp told his troops during the interval clearly worked as Sadio Mane levelled things again within 60 seconds of the restart. That triggered a period of sustained pressure from the visitors but they failed to get their noses in front.
The Reds boss told Sky Sports that he showed their goal during the break, as a source of inspiration. "We obviously showed the goal, as it was a really good footballing situation," the Liverpool boss explained. "I was not convinced, but I had the sense that we could win this game as always when we play them we cause them problems.
"They were much more direct than us today but that was not planned, they had a more direct idea than us today so it was one thing and then defensively we were in a bit of rush, they were better at defending high balls so they put us under pressure - we can defend those situations better.
"They were the two things, I wanted us to play proper football more often in the first half, I saw it in the second half and it is probably not possible all the time. Their counter attacks are not bad, they really always pick the right player to carry the ball."
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Klopp has grown so accustomed to watching his side fly out of the traps, it would have been a shock to the system to witness Liverpool be pegged back inside their own half for the opening exchanges. De Bruyne's opener had been coming while Diogo Jota's equaliser in the 13th minute undeniably came against the run of play.
The Liverpool boss reflected on the game's frantic start, claiming: "What a game, better start obviously for City - that's how it is. I think you can describe it as a bit of a boxing match, put your arms down for a second and you get a massive knock, you shake a little bit and the next knock is coming from the other team.
"I thought we were closer than ever in all moments when we played football, we controlled the game, we played simple passes that's how we caught the goals. The second half start was much better. City really tried to use a couple things, like with the ball in behind."
Given the respective run-ins of both sides from now until the end of the season, City will undoubtedly be the happier with the draw as their fortune remains in their own hands with just seven games left to play. For Klopp and his Reds, they will simply have to hope Guardiola's side uncharacteristically slip up between now and May.
"We will not stop chasing that is clear, but let's make sure we are ready for Benfica and ready for Wembley against this team again and then see who has the better finish," Klopp said, rallying Reds everywhere.
