Man City wouldn’t have won title with injury issues: Klopp
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said Manchester City would not have won the Premier League this season if they had had to deal with an injury crisis like that of the Merseyside club. Liverpool were without central defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for most of the campaign due to knee injuries, while Joel Matip was sidelined because of an ankle injury.
Fabinho, who was moved from midfield to central defence to help plug the gaps, also picked up a muscle problem, while forward Diogo Jota and midfielder Jordan Henderson were also out for large parts of the season due to injuries.
“It is how I said before this year, with the amount of injuries we have had, it was not the year to become champions. No chance. For nobody,” Klopp said ahead of Sunday’s final league game against Crystal Palace.
“As good as they are, if (Manchester) City have their three centre-halves out, no,” they don’t win the league. “Three centrehalves of United, no.”
Liverpool, who stormed to the title last season, were eighth in March with Champions League qualification looking unlikely, but Klopp’s side went on a ninematch unbeaten run to move up to fourth. Chelsea (67 points), Liverpool and Leicester City (66 points each) are in a three-way battle for the last two Champions League places ahead of Sunday’s final round of matches.
“We have fought back a bit, accepted the difficulties and made the best of it,” Klopp said.
Pirlo defiant
TURIN: Andrea Pirlo believes Champions League qualification will not be the decisive factor in whether Juventus decide to keep him on as coach for next season.
To clinch a top-four finish, the Turin club must win their final game in Bologna on Sunday and hope AC Milan or Napoli drop points in their games against Atalanta and Hellas Verona.
“I do not think the club will decide based on what happens tomorrow. I think they have an idea of what has been done over the season, what went well and badly,” Pirlo told a news conference on Saturday. “They do not take decisions based on the last match or on one result. It is up to them to decide a we will see what happens.”