We are not good losers – Jurgen Klopp expecting Liverpool reaction to Inter loss

Liverpool Jurgen Klopp admits his players take defeat worse than he does and so he expects a reaction after experiencing only their third loss of the season.

The 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter Milan on Tuesday was offset by the fact a 2-0 first-leg lead meant the team progressed to their fourth quarter-final in five years.

However, it was Liverpool’s first defeat at Anfield in a year and there were muted celebrations at the final whistle.

When it was pointed out to him his side had not lost many matches in the last year, Klopp said: “Enough. More than enough. We are not good losers.

“I have usually after a game a little speech in the dressing room, most of the time it is quite nice to tell the boys how good they were, but in this game it was slightly different.

“I realised when I looked in their eyes I am in a better mood than the players when I came in and I lost as well.

“My first thought was ‘We are through against tough opponents’ and their first thought was ‘We lost’. Both is fine somehow.”

Always in life reaction is important. We have to show reaction and I am pretty sure we will.- Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool’s first-half performance, in particular, against Inter was what disappointed Klopp the most, although they still could have won the match – Mohamed Salah hit the post twice in the second half and they missed a number of other chances.

He hopes the rare feeling of losing will give his players a wake-up call, with a Premier League trip to Brighton next on the agenda.

“I didn’t like part of the performance, especially defensively, and that’s a good point to make as if we don’t defend well against Brighton we have a problem,” he added.

“Our counter-press was not even close to what I would have expected and we got