Jurgen Klopp hailed Liverpool’s game plan and admitted his players “understood” the occasion better than Fulham after Wednesday night’s 1-1 Carabao Cup semi-final draw booked their place in the final thanks to a 3-2 aggregate win.
Luiz Diaz’s first-half strike was cancelled out by Issa Diop’s 76th-minute equaliser but the Cottagers could not find another at Craven Cottage as the Reds set up a Wembley showdown with Chelsea.
Klopp praised Liverpool’s second-half performance, where they soaked up pressure and frustrated Marco Silva’s men.
“They came out and they pressed for a while, but we understood the game slightly better,” Klopp said.
“I liked the second half as well. We should’ve scored, there were two situations.
“I think the counter-attack, everything was perfect and then Lucho (Diaz) doesn’t find the right player – which was a little bit of a shame – and when Harvey (Elliott) could shoot with his slightly-weaker right foot, we could’ve put the game to bed, but we didn’t.”
Liverpool were far from their best on the night and missed the presence of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Klopp knew the occasion would not be an easy one against their Premier League rivals but a solid team performance saw the visitors capitalise on their 2-1 first-leg advantage at Anfield.
“It was just a good game, a good cup game,” Klopp added.
“Whoever expected tonight that we just show quality and we get through and this will be a walk in the park doesn’t understand the game and doesn’t understand the importance of the occasion.
“Both teams wanted to go to Wembley – and we qualified and that’s all we could wish for.”
Joe Gomez continued to feature at left-back in place of the injured Andy Robertson and rarely put a foot wrong against Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Klopp added: “He played exceptional today again. He’s a real defender and he comes inside. He’s doing that really well.
“He is a life-saver, to be honest, that he was here, that he could play and people forget how important Joey (Gomez) was in the best years we had.
“I don’t know how many games he played in the year when we became champions and how many games he played when we won the Champions League. A lot and rightly so because he’s a top-class player.”
Greenwood excited by Man City playing in 'pinnacle' of football
Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood is excited by the challenge that competing in the Champions League will bring to the club as they aim to win it for the first time.
They face Barcelona at home on Wednesday in their opening match in Group D, having failed make it past the qualifying rounds in the previous two years.
City ensured they would avoid the same fate this time around though, with an emphatic 8-0 aggregate victory over Paris FC.
The significance of being in the competition was not lost on Greenwood.
"It's the pinnacle to win the Champions League. To win this competition is another level," she said.
"It's exciting. I'm looking forward to that. We belong here, we've missed out and been frustrated by that."
Barcelona have won the tournament in three of the last four seasons, while they were beaten finalists in 2021-22, losing 3-1 to Lyon.
City last faced the Spanish giants in their last appearance in the competition, losing 4-2 on aggregate in the 2020-21 quarter-final before Barcelona went on to win their first Champions League.
Despite being knocked out, City did win 2-1 in the home leg in 2021. Of the team that played that day, only England team-mates Greenwood and Chloe Kelly remain at the club.
"I don't remember it clearly, but I do remember the game," said Greenwood.
"Our team has changed so much since then. The way we prepare is different, we look different now and are a lot more prepared."
One familiar face who could line up against Manchester City on Wednesday is Keira Walsh, who moved from them to Barcelona for a then world-record transfer fee of approximately £400,000 in September 2022.
"I could speak about Keira all day, she’s an incredible footballer," said Greenwood.
"What she does off the ball and on the ball, she's an incredible player. She's improved and added assists to her game, hopefully not tomorrow!"
Meanwhile, Gareth Taylor believes his club are about to face the biggest challenge they possibly could.
"I would say they are the best team in the world, especially over the period of the last four or five years," he said.
"Barcelona have really dominated this last three-year period. In terms of that taking the pressure off us, not at all. We've worked tremendously hard to be here.
"The cream always rises to the top. We want to see the best players on the best stage and this is what it is."
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League thriller
Chelsea kicked off their 2024-25 Women's Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory at home to Real Madrid in Group B.
The victory puts the Blues in second in their group after one match, while it was a perfect start for manager Sonia Bompastor, who was taking charge of her first Champions League game for the club.
Bompastor led Lyon to the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, winning it in 2021-22. She will be hoping to do the same in west London this season and things got off to the perfect start for her and Chelsea in this game.
Sjoeke Nusken's second-minute goal put the home side ahead - unsurprisingly, that is the quickest goal in the Champions League this season.
In miserable weather at Stamford Bridge, things got even better for the hosts after they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Nusken. Guro Reiten made it 2-0 from the spot in the 28th minute, with Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez unable to get a hand to it despite diving the right way.
But Madrid were back in it 11 minutes later, with Alba Redondo finishing tidily through Zecira Musovic's legs - her second Champions League goal in as many matches.
They were unable to make the most of that lifeline, with Chelsea restoring their two-goal advantage soon after the break. Mayra Ramirez scored her first goal of the season, heading in Lauren James' cross seven minutes after the restart.
The drama was not finished though. Substitute Linda Caicedo once again cut the deficit for the visitors, making it a nervy final seven minutes for Chelsea, but the home side held on to claim a valuable three points.
Chelsea have now lost just one of their last 19 group stage matches (W13 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 13 (W10 D3); the only other team to have participated in every group stage since they were introduced in 2021 and lost just once is Barcelona (W16 D1).
Elsewhere in Group B, Celtic were beaten 2-0 by FC Twente in their opener, which marked their first-ever game in the Champions League.
Kayleigh van Dooren netted twice for the Dutch side, although the Scottish champions held out until the 44th minute before conceding.
In truth, they were second-best with the visitors dominating possession, having over 70% of the ball, and taking double the shots on target of their hosts (six to three). Twente got a second five minutes from time and go top of the group.
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