Devastated Jurgen Klopp conceded that Liverpool’s European dream is over, as he attempted to draw Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti into mindgames.
But even though the Reds boss can’t see a way back in the tie against Madrid, after a 5-2 thrashing, he insisted his side can’t allow them to be damaged by the worst European defeat in Anfield history.
Los Blancos chief Ancelotti insisted after the game he didn’t believe the tie was won yet, despite the scoreline. But Klopp countered: "I think Carlo thinks the tie is over - and I think it as well in the moment, but in three weeks.
"It's how it is in these moments, the closer you get to the game the bigger our chances become and the less likely it is the tie is over. Tonight, with the 5-2 and you see the game, they are pretty good in counter-attacking.
"We have to score three goals there and take some risk, so that could be a bit tricky. It is really not even in my mind. We go there, I can say it now already, and try to win the game.
"If that is possible or not, I don't know now but that's what we will try and from there we will see."
Klopp though, couldn’t hide his frustration at his side’s defending, after a blistering start gave them a 2-0 lead and had Real on the ropes.
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“I know a 5-2 scoreline could be damaging to my team, but we have to ensure it is not. Everything was pretty obvious, we gave all five goals away and could have done better with each," he said.
“With our start in the game it is really important we see positive steps and that was probably the best we have shown in the season, but their first two goals we have to do better - obvious that we could do better.
“At half time, we had done ok, but the third goal was a horrible goal - we had the momentum and in that moment it was gone for the rest of the game.
“I can see that people will think this will be damaging for the team, but I told the players after that we have to learn from this and if you don’t learn from that outstanding start, then you need to. We have to make sure we take things out of this game.”
Ancelotti refused to be drawn into Klopp's attempted mindgames, insisting there was still a long way to go in the tie. And he called on his team to "manage" the second leg with the Reds having nothing to lose.
“We have gained an advantage from the first 90 minutes and now we have to manage the second 90 in Madrid well. Liverpool are a highly competitive team and unfortunately the tie isn't over," he said.
"Liverpool are a great team because they play at a high tempo and that's tough to come by in Europe. It's going to be tough for us. Winning at Anfield isn't easy and doing so in a convincing manner is even more difficult. We're very pleased about that."
