Jurgen Klopp admitted that penalty shootouts were a lottery but revealed that working with company Neuro11 may have given his side the edge in both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals.
The Liverpool boss paid tribute to both his team and Chelsea for their performances at Wembley as they reached their 60th and 61st games of the season, respectively. In a mirror of the clash in February, spot kicks were needed once again to separate the sides, with the scores goalless after 120 minutes.
Sudden death was also needed once again, and though the FA Cup final did not require goalkeepers to step up on this occasion, it wasn't until each side's seventh penalty that the result was confirmed. Kostas Tsimikas kept his cool to punish Mason Mount's miss to leave the Cobham product crestfallen on the hallowed turf.
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Klopp praised the endeavours of both teams throughout the match and paid tribute to the outside help his team had. He said: "Most important, all respect to Chelsea. What a team, what a performance. In the end, we all know a penalty shootout is a lottery. That's how it is.
"But we did it again, we worked together with a company, four guys, their name is Neuro11. We got in contact with them a few years ago, and one of them is a neuroscientist and said we could train penalty shooting. I said, 'sounds interesting, come over'. We met, we worked together, and this trophy is for them as well, like Carabao Cup was.
"Sadio's penalty is at least 50% my responsibility because I have to let the boys do what they think to do, but with him, I said, 'He knows exactly, the goalie, so do it the other way around. How very often in my life, I realise better to shut up.
"We still made it. It means the world, it's massive, it was difficult. The first 25 minutes were the best we ever played against Chelsea, but we didn't score. Chelsea, with the quality they, have found a way back into the game. They did that. There were ups and downs in the game, they had their chances, we had massive chances. None of us used them, so a penalty shootout is a logical thing. Doing it like this feels good but gives you more of a sense of how hard it must be for the opponent. Honestly, my respect to Chelsea and what they did."
