Jurgen Klopp roars in delight after Liverpool's victory over Barcelona
Klopp riled his players up before the game (Picture: Getty)

Dejan Lovren says the impact of an x-rated pre-match speech from Jurgen Klopp helped provide the inspiration needed for Liverpool to dump Barcelona out of the Champions League.

Liverpool overturned a three-goal deficit from the semi-final first leg, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi both scoring to complete the comeback in a 4-0 victory at Anfield.

Barcelona were stunned by Liverpool’s intensity and ruthlessness and Lovren explained how he and his team-mates were riled up by their manager just before kick-off.

‘Congratulations to Klopp, before the game he had the amazing speech,’ Lovren revealed after the game.

‘It was something brilliant that he did, and I think he lifted us up. “Boys, just believe. Put in your mind that we can enjoy it’”.


‘It’s something that we never heard before. He said: “Boys, believe, one, two goals. Even if we don’t score in the first 15, 20 minutes believe in the 65, 66 and 67 minutes that we can score. And then with Anfield behind, trust me, guys, we can do it. We did it once, Dortmund game, we can do it tonight. Just show the fucking balls tonight” and we did it.’

It is the second time in Klopp’s reign Liverpool have produced a remarkable comeback, having beaten Borussia Dortmund 4-3 in a crazy Europa League semi-final in 2016.

‘A special night,’ Klopp said. ‘Winning against Barcelona is one of the most difficult things in the world of football.

‘Winning against Barcelona when you are 3-0 down, when you have to score four and are not allowed to concede, is even more difficult, so we did not really think about it.

Liverpool celebrate after beating Barcelona at Anfield (Picture: Getty)
Liverpool achieved the impossible in front of their fans (Picture: Getty)

‘We just tried to build on the good performance in Barcelona and win the game step by step.


‘It was really difficult to play against us with a mix of big heart and football skills. That was beautiful.

‘I told the boys before the game it was not really possible but because you have the mentality of giants we have a chance.

‘To produce a performance like that is unbelievable. What they did is so special. I will remember it forever and I don’t know if it will happen again.’

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