As Jurgen Klopp reflects on the highs and lows of his almost nine years at Liverpool, the manager revealed his frustration at “that f***er” Thibaut Courtois.
Klopp leaves Anfield having won every trophy possible, but it could have been even more were it not for many fine margins.
One of those was the individual performance of Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, who made a ridiculous nine saves to keep Liverpool out as the Spanish side won 1-0 in Paris.
Were it not for the Belgian, the Reds would have lifted their second Champions League trophy under Klopp.
And speaking to journalists including the Times‘ Paul Joyce as he winds down his time on Merseyside, the departing Liverpool manager reflected on the efforts of a goalkeeper who had “12 hands.”
“I suffer like crazy after these things, just not for long,” Klopp explained.
“It’s how I said after the last Champions League final we lost [to Real Madrid in 2022] – I decided before that, if it doesn’t happen, I will not waste a lifetime on suffering. I can’t do that any more.
“We play that game and we shoot every three minutes on their goal but their ‘keeper has 12 hands and then they score that goal and we talk afterwards about the one mistake where we could have defended better.
“Could they have defended all the situations where we had the finishes better? Oh, definitely. But nobody speaks about it.
“The other guys were in the wrong position 23 times and we didn’t punish them. That has nothing to do with their defending, that was that fucker Courtois.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. We just have to accept the rule of the game: the team that scores wins if you don’t score yourself.
“It’s how I understand life – I want it but others want it as well. From time to time you get it and from time to time they get it. I’m at peace with it.”
The day after defeat in Paris, Klopp, his players, staff and their counterparts from the women’s side embarked on a bus-top parade around Liverpool.
Though the first team only ended their quadruple-chasing season with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, it was a decision that showed the manager’s words in full effect.
Put simply, there is little even the best teams can do if “that fucker Courtois” pulls off a performance like that.
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