Jurgen Klopp pays tribute to Liverpool’s title-winning squad on exceptional Anfield night

An emotional night as Liverpool receive the trophy

Jurgen Klopp saw his Liverpool team beat Chelsea 5-3 at Anfield, then lift the Premier League trophy—and said the entire occasion was fitting for a spectacular season.

Despite no fans being allowed in grounds for matches, the Reds squad and staff were eventually allowed to have family in the ground for the presentation—a sensible outcome, given those same families can now go to other establishments together.

Klopp acknowledged that a perfect scenario would have had tens of thousands of supporters inside the ground, but the next best thing was this version of the celebration, with the promise of a bigger one to come.

“That’s how life is, you make the best of it. Our families are there and it means the world to me,” he said to Sky Sports after the trophy party started.

“Everything would be better with fans, I know that. [But] a few months ago I thought [it would be] not possible to play football; today is all good and all fine so I couldn’t be happier.

“[It would be] perfect if the stadium is full but you cannot change it. What we tried to do is make it good for other people and that we do it for them. Everybody celebrates at home and its a great moment.”

The trophy lift came after the game, of course, which while a crazy back-and-forth encounter, proved the quality and desire to win which have been hallmarks of Liverpool’s successful campaign. Klopp paid tribute not just to the key members of the squad, but to the youngsters who also keep the intensity high in training and keep the level of the squad progressing and improving.

“It’s all about consistency. We had these games when we started, high flying, crazy football. In the end we had to get over that, staying greedy, staying intense in training.

“All the kids deserve a medal. Harvey Elliott had 90 [training] sessions with us; they keep the level high, that’s why we play like we play—because we train like we train.

“They play like this [tonight], I’m surprised myself – how can you put such a shift in with these circumstances? Just exceptional. We learned over the years, play the situation and talk later. We won four trophies, I couldn’t be more proud. I will have a picture with all four because it doesn’t happen too often!”