2 Atletico, another late winner, Isak and Wirtz displays and more

On Liverpool winning on his birthday...

It's the second year in a row I had to celebrate my birthday on a Champions League night – and the second time in a row the players gave me a nice present because we won them both. I would like to ask UEFA if next year I can celebrate my birthday with my friends and family! Another great night here at Anfield. I think this is what the format is about, what UEFA probably wanted; to have already a first game in the group stage that could have been a quarter-final, semi-final [or] last-16 game. That's also what you saw today – us playing really well, getting a lot of chances to finish the game off earlier and then you face a mentality team like Atletico. They always find a way to come back into the game and that's what they did. The good thing for us is we have the same mentality.

On whether he is thinking more about another late winner or nearly drawing after holding a two-goal lead...

Maybe at this moment in time the last part, although I think again it was a great game to watch not only for us as Liverpool fans, but for all the fans all around the world who love to watch football. I think that's also part of our jobs, that people like what they see. That’s what we’re trying every time, but a game like this should not have gone to a late winner. Although again it’s not easy to beat Atletico Madrid because of their mentality, but I can come up with numerous moments where we could have scored the third one, which we didn't. That’s maybe a bit different to the Burnley, Arsenal or Newcastle games where we didn't create as many [chances] as we did tonight.

Read our match report from Anfield

On Isak’s performance and the plan for him for Saturday’s Merseyside derby…

I was positively surprised by how fit he was during that 60 minutes but that maybe, probably, tells you that it might be a difference to sign a 20-year-old from a different league or a 25 or 26-year-old that is used to playing in this league. Although he only trained for two weeks, he has so many gams under his belt that he is probably more able to be ready for 60. But I was positively surprised how fit he was, I wasn’t surprised by his quality because that’s what we all know. You don’t have to be a manager to recognise how much quality he has. But it’s always nice to see if a player starts the way he starts, like Hugo Ekitike [who] started the same as he did. Yeah, a good start, only 60 minutes and now we have to build him up from here. But I can tell you he is not going to play 90 again on Saturday.

On whether he always feels his side will find a way to win given their knack for scoring late goals this season…

You’re never 100 per cent sure but what I do know is we’re so fit that we’re able to push one more time. But I’m sure that we’re not going to need, every single game, stoppage time. There will be games where if we are 2-0 up after six minutes and we create so many chances afterwards that we will score the third and then we won’t need stoppage time to make a late game winner. And there will probably also be games where we need a goal in the last minutes and we don’t, but what I can assure you, even if we don’t score it we will try to push for it. That is the mentality this team has, but it should not only be about mentality. It’s also how fit we are, how well prepared we are throughout the last few weeks that they are able to push one last time and then in the end it is also about quality because the cross from Szoboszlai and the way Virgil heads the ball in is not only to do with mentality or being fit, that is also [about] having so much quality.

On where his team can still improve…

I think one of the things you need to have if you want to compete for the Premier League and the cups and the Champions League is mentality and fitness. But you also need quality and I think that’s also what we saw tonight. Maybe I am even a bit disappointed that we scored in the last minute – I know that’s going to be your headline and it’s going to be great to score a late game winner, but I would have liked it more if we would have spoken about, ‘Did you see the few attacks we had before half-time when Florian [Wirtz] and Alex combined together, which led to almost Jeremie [Frimpong] scoring, or second half a great attack with Dominik and Flo and Mo that ended up on the post.’ I can come up with so many great attacks we had today but probably no one is talking about that.

Everybody will probably talk again about the late game winner, which I understand because that is the story of this game and the story of the last five games. But for me it was a different game than the ones we have played before. So I saw many good things but it is not for the first time that we give away a 2-0 lead as well, which was different to the one we gave aways against Bournemouth because this one had nothing to do with counter-attacks. But we did give away a 2-0 lead which is not what we were known for last season. So yes, there is a lot to improve but there is a lot to like as well.

On Florian Wirtz’s performance...

He was indeed a few times close to scoring a goal and he was also a few times close to assisting a a goal – I think he was the one that created most chances for us today. So I can see with him also that he is getting fitter and fitter and adjusting more and more to us, which is normal. You need a bit of time to adjust. We all know how much quality he has but sometimes people forget that he is a 22-year-old that goes for the first time abroad. I am 47 now because it is my birthday today but last year I came when I was 46 and I know it was my first time working abroad, and in the first two or three months your whole life is changing.

All the things that are normal to you are not normal anymore… because everything is different and that sometimes costs energy as well. Combine that with going to a new club, a new playing style because [Bayer] Leverkusen played 3-4-3 and we play 4-3-3 and so we ask a bit more from him off the ball and defensively as well. But I can see him growing, growing, growing more and more and more and I think that is what you can expect from a quality player, who always adjusts to what he needs. And he and the team will get better and better, but I liked his performance today already a lot.

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