Jurgen Klopp says it is "absolutely insane" his side finished their Champions League group with 15 points after making it five wins on the spin with victory over Napoli.
The Reds were beaten 4-1 by the Serie A leaders in the reverse fixture on matchday one – a loss Klopp described as the worst performance of his seven-year tenure.
Liverpool recovered with wins home and away against Ajax and Rangers to qualify for the last 16 with a game, against Napoli at Anfield on Tuesday, to spare.
A 2-0 win saw Liverpool inflict some revenge on Napoli for their September mauling, but they fell two goals short of overtaking their opponents at the Group A summit.
Klopp's side will therefore be unseeded in Monday's last-16 draw, but the German was pleased with what he saw against Napoli, who entered the game unbeaten in 17 matches.
"We showed tonight a really good reaction," he told BT Sport, referencing Saturday's 2-1 loss to Leeds United that leaves Liverpool ninth in the Premier League.
"I would have enjoyed the game even without the goals. Being compact makes all the difference. All of a sudden we are difficult to play against.
"If you see what Napoli can do in the moment, it was a really good game in our situation. The boys played a good game with a lot of courage.
"I saw the bravery to go in for challenges, making a proper fight of it and two set-pieces give us the three points – 15 points in the Champions League group is absolutely insane."
The win over Napoli was Klopp's 400th game in charge of Liverpool, and his 100th in the Champions League with the Reds and Borussia Dortmund.
He is just the seventh manager to reach that milestone in the competition, while only Pep Guardiola (61) has won more than the German's 58 games in those first 100 outings.
Liverpool survived a scare when Leo Ostigard had a goal ruled out by a VAR check lasting more than three minutes, with the technology coming to the Reds' aid two more times.
Mohamed Salah gave the hosts the lead in the 85th minute and substitute Darwin Nunez, who played a part in that opener, added a second in the 98th minute.
Those two goals were also subjected to VAR checks, but Klopp joked he could have no complaints over the delays due to his side being on the right end of the decisions.
"I heard it was some technical issues [for the delay on the first goal]," he said. "It is tough but in the end it is good for us.
"Three times in our direction. I did not see the first goal. But after a long time they seem to have made the right call."
Despite their 13-game winning run coming to an end in their first defeat since April, Napoli finished top of their Champions League group for only the second time (also 2016-17).
The Italian side had scored a competition-high 20 goals across their opening five group matches, but they mustered just two attempts on target at Anfield.
"We're very disappointed," said defender Ostigard. "We thought we were in the game, especially in the second half. To lose at the end is tough to take. We came here to win."
Al Hilal 3-1 Al Fateh: Neves on target as Saudi giants close in on title
Al Hilal moved 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr at the top of the Saudi Pro League as Ruben Neves scored in a 3-1 win over Al Fateh on Friday.
Former Wolves star Neves slotted in from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, as Al Hilal completed a rapid comeback.
Having fallen behind to Lucas Zelarayan's 57th-minute opener, Al Hilal responded swiftly through Micheal before Salem Al Najdi fouled Mohammed Al Qahtani in the penalty area.
Ex-Barcelona winger Cristian Trello and Al Fateh coach Slaven Bilic were booked for their complaints, with Neves making no mistake, paving the way for Ali Al Bulayhi to seal victory in the 15th minute of an extended period of stoppage time.
Data Debrief
Al Hilal have now won 21 games on the spin in the league. They have scored 86 goals across their 28 matches this season, winning 26 in total.
They had 19 shots on Friday, accumulating 2.34 xG to Al Fateh's 0.25, with pass-master Neves creating three chances to go along with his goal.
RFEF elects Rocha as new president
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed Pedro Rocha as its new president.
Rocha has been elected as Luis Rubiales' replacement, despite being under investigation for corruption.
He had been serving as interim president since Rubiales resigned in September over the scandal caused when he kissed player Jenni Hermoso following Spain's Women's World Cup triumph in August.
In a statement released on Friday, the RFEF said: "Pedro Rocha has today been proclaimed the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members of this institution that governs Spanish football.
"The process followed the procedure agreed by the Electoral Commission, which met this morning, and the timetable that was established for these elections."
Rocha has been under investigation since earlier in April, after the RFEF's headquarters was raided by police last month. The Spanish government announced on Thursday that it would be stepping in to oversee the running of the organisation.
'Did anyone expect us to be champions?' – Klopp not ready to assess final season at Anfield
Jurgen Klopp refused to assess his final season at Liverpool just yet, despite the campaign seemingly starting to fizzle out.
Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Everton in the Merseyside derby dealt a huge blow to Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes.
The Reds are now three points clear of leaders Arsenal, while they are two points behind second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Klopp has just four matches left of his Liverpool tenure, though he is not ready to assess the final season of his stint just yet.
"I would not assess it now. I have no clue, so I am not in the mood to give up, wave the white flag kind of thing," he said ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham.
"I just think we have to look after ourselves; just make sure that we play better football. I said after the game 'why should a team who play like us against Everton be champions?' But the football we played before, a lot of good stuff. In January we looked invincible, with a depleted squad. Everybody went in the same direction, go for it, squeezed out results.
"So, we deserve to be where we are. I want us to use the situation, don't feel the pressure, for whatever reason it is. The boys are incredible footballers and I see it as my job to create that atmosphere where they can be the best versions of themselves – and that's obviously how I have failed.
"I don't know how it happened, but I didn't see anything of what I wanted us to be in the Everton game."
Klopp did, though, reminded the media that Liverpool have performed above expectations.
"Did anyone expect us to become champions at the start of the season? No, but it developed in this direction," Klopp added.
"Just to explain how different it is. We cannot go back to the point where we say 'yeah, well [qualifying for the Champions League] is good enough'. It is very good, but because we were so close, we are very, very disappointed in this moment in time. We cannot change that."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
West Ham – Jarrod Bowen
Bowen has scored in both of West Ham’s meetings with Liverpool so far this season – the only Hammers player to score in three different games against the Reds in a single campaign is Geoff Hurst in 1964-65.
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah has received criticism for his recent form, but he has scored 11 goals for Liverpool against West Ham in all competitions, only netting more against Manchester United (14) in his Reds career.
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
West Ham have won just one of their last eight Premier League home games (D5 L2), beating Brentford 4-2 in February. They lost against Fulham last time out but haven’t lost consecutive home league games since a run of three in November/December 2022.
Liverpool have already beaten West Ham 3-1 in the Premier League and 5-1 in the League Cup so far this season. This is the 11th different campaign in which they have faced the Hammers 3+ times, but they have never managed to beat them three times in any of the previous 10.
Since keeping back-to-back clean sheets against Liverpool in the 2015-16 campaign, West Ham have conceded at least once in each of their last 15 against the Reds, conceding multiple goals in 12 of those games.
Liverpool have only won more Premier League games against Crystal Palace (13) than they have against West Ham (12) under Klopp.
West Ham have lost 12 of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool, with both exceptions in this run coming at home (1-1 in February 2019, 3-2 in November 2021).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
West Ham – 21.7%
Liverpool – 52.5%
Draw – 25.8%
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