Klopp lauds final flourish delivered by Liverpool’s history boys

JURGEN KLOPP saluted his ‘absolutely exceptional’ Liverpool team after seeing the champions end a ‘nearly perfect’ Premier League season with a club record 99 points. A 3-1 final day win at Newcastle ensured the Reds maintained their 18-point advantage over Manchester City and left Klopp (below) purring over his squad. Asked to reflect upon a season which had ended the club’s 30-year wait for another title, the German said: ‘The football part of the year was exceptional, absolutely exceptional, 99 points... ‘How we think about it, it started on June 1, 2019 because yes, that was the last game of the last season, but for us, it was pretty much the first game of a pretty special time. To do this after the European Super Cup, the Club World Cup and now the Premier League is absolutely exceptional. ‘Ninety-nine points after having 97 last year, absolutely exceptional. The boys have shown a consistency which is really second to none, and that’s what we had to do, we knew that. ‘That’s it. It will have a special place in my own memories’ Liverpool did not have things all their own way on Tyneside — indeed a team featuring five changes with first-choice front three Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane starting on the bench fell behind to Dwight Gayle’s strike with just 24 seconds gone. However, Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser and second-half strikes from Divock Origi and substitute Mane, who curled home a brilliant third at the death, secured the points.