WEST BROMWICH: Jurgen Klopp is ready to turn his full attention to Liverpool’s first European final for nine years after the Reds finished their Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion.
Liverpool boss Klopp admitted his senior players were already thinking ahead to Wednesday’s Europa League final against holders Sevilla in Basel before Sunday’s domestic finale.
So Klopp made 11 changes at the Hawthorns, with most of the men likely to start the final left on Merseyside to rest while Liverpool’s understudies collected a point thanks to Jordon Ibe’s fine equaliser after Salomon Rondon’s opener.
“We made a few changes – 11,” smiled Klopp. “It absolutely made sense because it’s perfectly clear you cannot play here with 50 per cent concentration.
“I know about playing finals and it would have been quite difficult for the players. It was clear it was going to be quite intense.
“The young boys did really well and we played football.
“The problem would be if we came with other players and they were already with their mind on the next game. That would be absolutely normal, we cannot change this.”
Klopp’s squad could be boosted for Wednesday by the presence of captain Jordan Henderson, who returned from a lay-off of more than a month by playing 26 minutes as a substitute and showed no ill-effects from his knee injury.
“I didn’t want to force the situation and say ‘come on Hendo’ but he didn’t feel anything in the last few sessions so we wanted to try to give him 20 minutes,” Klopp said.
“In the end it was nearly half an hour. It’s good to have him back, for sure.”
