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I Don’t Know How My Players Did It – Klopp Confesses
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was “overwhelmed” and saw his players in tears after they completed the biggest Champions League semi-final comeback to beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate.
The Reds lost the first leg 3-0 but doubles from GeorginioWijnaldum and DivockOrigi at Anfield took them into a final against Ajax or Tottenham.
“If I have to describe this club then it’s a big heart and tonight it was pounding like crazy,” he said.
“You could hear it all over the world.”
Klopp was almost giddy in his BT Sport interview, checking it was past the watershed before swearing and saying he was happy to pay a fine.
“The whole game was too much,” he said. “Winning is difficult but with a clean sheet, I don’t know how they did it.”
“It means so much to all of us. There are more important things in the world. But creating this emotional atmosphere together is so special. It’s all about the players.
“The mix of potential and unbelievable heart is just a mix I never saw before. It shows what’s possible in football. It’s so nice.”
It is the first time since 1986 – when Barcelona knocked out Gothenburg in the old European Cup – that a team have recovered a three-goal first-leg deficit to win a semi-final in this competition.
“I said to the boys before ‘I don’t think it’s possible but because it’s you I think we have a chance’ – they are really mentality giants. It’s unbelievable,” Klopp added.
“After the season we played, the games we had, the injuries we had now in this moment, if you go out there and ask who bet a penny on us, I don’t think you would find a lot of people.
“We know this club is the mix of atmosphere, emotion, desire and football quality. Cut off one and it doesn’t work.”
Klopp won two Bundesliga titles and a German Cup with Borussia Dortmund but since 2012 has lost two Champions League finals, one Europa League final, two German Cups and a Carabao Cup final.
“I know what people say about me and losing finals, that’s absolutely right,” said Klopp, who guided the five-time European champions to last season’s final, which they lost to Real Madrid. “But it’s the fourth final in that time as well we are in, that’s pretty special already.
“Last year we really felt we have to go back – we cannot let it stand like this, that’s not possible. Now we get another chance and we will go for that, of course.
“I’m not sure if it will happen again because it’s so special. When I saw the boys after the game and saw the tears in their eyes, that’s football. This club touches you like crazy, it’s like you feel much more than others in these moments.”
Wijnaldum said his team had showed “everything is possible in football”.
The midfielder replaced the injured Andy Robertson at half-time and scored twice, with Origi getting the winner.
“After the game in Spain we were confident we could score four and win 4-0,” he said.
“People outside doubted us. They thought we couldn’t do it. But once again we showed everything is possible in football.
“I was really angry that the manager put me on the bench. I just tried to help my team, I’m happy I could do that with two goals.”
The final is in Madrid on 1 June and will be the first since 2013 without a Spanish side involved – that after a run of seven finalists from that country in the past five seasons.
“Who’s going to the final? We are,” said Liverpool left-back Robertson, when asked about a running battle he had with former Reds striker Luis Suarez, whose kick injured the Scot and led to his half-time substitution. “That’s all that matters. Gini went on [for me] and scored two. I don’t care right now.”
Robertson also said this unlikely victory can help his side as they attempt to win the Premier League title on Sunday. They need to beat Wolves and hope leaders Manchester City drop points at Brighton to win their first league title since 1990.
“Fingers crossed,” he said. “We go to Sunday full of energy. It’s out of our hands but we’ve seen stranger things happen. Especially tonight.”
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.
Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.
But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.
“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.
“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now.”
The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.
The interview follows the release of her memoir last month in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.
She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made changes in the hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the federal government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.
The President appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff.
The new Chief of Army Staff is Major-General W. Shaibu. Air Vice Marshall S.K Aneke is Chief of Air Staff while Rear Admiral I. Abbas is the new Chief of Naval Staff. Chief of Defence Intelligence Major-General E.A.P Undiendeye retains his position.
The President expressed appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the other Service Chiefs for their patriotic service, and dedicated leadership.
The President charges the newly appointed Service Chiefs to justify the confidence reposed in them to further enhance the professionalism, vigilance and comradeship that define the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
All appointments take immediate effect, Special Adviser to the President
Media and Public Communication, Mr Sunday Dare, said in a statement in Abuja.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, till Monday, October 27, to enable him to open his defence in the terrorism charges filed against him.
Justice James Omotosho fixed the new date on Friday, after Kanu informed the court that his former legal team, led by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), had yet to release his case file to him.
At the resumed hearing, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) appeared for the Federal Government and reminded the court that the matter was fixed for Kanu to begin his defence as earlier directed.
However, no counsel represented Kanu.
He pleaded for an adjournment to allow him to retrieve and study the file to prepare adequately for his defence.
He said, “My lord, my counsel left the case yesterday, and I have not received the file from them.”
He also informed the court of his intention to call 23 witnesses, both local and foreign, and requested an order directing the Department of State Services to allow his foreign witnesses access to him.
Additionally, he sought permission for his lawyers to visit him on non-working days — a request Omotosho granted.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Awomolo, however, described Kanu’s complaint as “strange”, noting that the defendant had spent hours in court with his former lawyers. He further urged the court to strictly enforce its earlier directive giving Kanu six days to open and close his defence.
The prosecution said, “I’m aware that there is a standing order for the defendant to defend himself within six days. The defendant wasted yesterday. This is the second day, my lord. I urge your lordship to keep to the standing order of the number of days given to the defendant,” Awomolo said.
In his ruling, Omotosho said while Kanu’s claim about the withheld case file was “strange and difficult to believe”, he would still grant a short adjournment in the interest of justice.
The judge cautioned against unnecessary delays, stressing that several other cases had been affected by the protracted proceedings.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to Monday, October 27, for Kanu to open his defence.
