Liverpool vs Barcelona: Jurgen Klopp promises Reds will avenge defeat in last year’s Champions League final

Liverpool are ready to write a new chapter in history after their heroic comeback against Barcelona

A year ago in Kiev, Liverpool gathered in the dressing room after losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid and made a resolution: this would not stand.

They would return in 12 months’ time and put things right. Now, after one of the most stunning victories in the club’s history, a 4-0 defeat of Barcelona at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp said it was time to write a new chapter in their history.

“Last year, we really felt we had to go back,” Klopp said. “After Kiev, we had to go back. We couldn’t let it stand like this. That’s not possible. And now we get another chance, and we will go for that of course. I know what people say about me losing finals and stuff. But it's a fourth final we’re in [since he joined the club], and that's pretty special.”

Klopp described the win over Barcelona as a night he would never forget, and the reaction of his players in the dressing room suggested that neither would they.

“The tears in their eyes,” he said. “This club touches you like crazy. You feel much more than others in these moments. I’m not sure if it will happen again, it’s so special.”

The weight of a 3-0 deficit from the first leg left Liverpool as clear outsiders to progress. But Klopp said: “I said to the boys, I think it’s impossible. But because of you, we have a chance. We believed in this chance. They have the mentality of giants, it’s unbelievable.”

Klopp rejected comparisons with Liverpool’s comeback win in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. “The boys want to create our own history,” he said.

“Not because we’re not happy about the history of the club, but because we need new chapters.” On June 1 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, his side will have the perfect opportunity to write the next page.