First-half display was just about perfect says Jurgen

JURGEN KLOPP hailed the best 45 minutes of his Anfield reign as Liverpool reached their first FA Cup final in a decade.

They will now face Crystal Palace or Chelsea, who they met in 2012 when they last contested English football’s most historic fixture — and Klopp is determined to become the first Anfield boss since Rafa Benitez in 2006 to lift the trophy.

He said: ‘I think so was the feeling I had when I saw first half, the quality of the opponent — which you saw in the second half, how good they were really are.

‘Denying them in so many moments, creating your own opportunities, using them is very difficult, so first half was outstanding in pretty much all parts of the game.

‘Second half they score [early] like we did in the previous game and it opens up. No football player on the planet feels safe against City with a 3-1 lead. It’s always clear what they can do. There were moments, of course. They got one time through and we needed Ali.

‘But we had our own moments and could have decided the game earlier, so it makes it more special. Three-nil against City feels kind of strange — 3-2 is a fair result.’

Liverpool now roll into games against Manchester United and Everton before the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal and, for that reason, Klopp feels all talk of pursuing history is futile. He added: ‘You can mention whatever you want. It doesn’t make it more likely that you get the answer you want from me. I think a game like today shows even more how unlikely it is to do something like that [quadruple]. We went through against City, which is incredibly difficult and intense, and in three days we play Man U.

‘With their three points today and with the Arsenal and Tottenham results, the door for a Champions League spot is open. So they will be on their toes and historically it’s not a friendly game.

‘A few days later we play Everton and, in the situation they’re in, it will not be a friendly, then we play Villareal — that will not be a friendly, then Newcastle and all this kind of thing. It’s incredibly intense and it’s really unlikely that a team will win all the games.’