Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool boss slates 'c**p kick-off time' to play Newcastle at the end of April amid fixture pile-up

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has criticised the decision to plonk a lunchtime kick-off between his side's looming two-legged Champions League semi-final as the club's congested fixture schedule takes its toll. The quadruple-chasing Reds have five more fixtures remaining in three competitions in April, with the Merseyside club still in contention to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. They won the League Cup in February.

Ad/> Liverpool beat Benfica 6-4 on aggregate to set up a clash with La Liga side Villarreal in the last four, but now face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals less than three days later. Champions LeagueFootball with agg > football without agg — The Warm-Up2 HOURS AGO Klopp says he cannot understand why his side have to also play at Saturday lunchtime against Newcastle on April 30. «I've just spoken to BT Sport and pointed out to them again that this is a c**p kick-off time,» Klopp told DAZN Germany.

«We want to play all the games that are coming up — no problem at all. But it doesn't have to be that they let us play 12:30 on Saturdays and then see how it goes — for no reason. I will never understand that.» /> Liverpool drew 3-3 on the night with Klopp making seven changes to his side that beat the Portuguese club 3-1 in the first leg in Lisbon.

The German boss said he took responsibility for Liverpool not winning the game. «I know we were 3-1 up, at the end it's 3-3, they also score two or three offside goals — of course that's anything but cool. But all the negative things that happened are my fault, my responsibility, because I changed seven times,» he said.