LIVERPOOL – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his team had to “fight again” after beating Porto 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Anfield on Tuesday.
Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino struck inside the first 26 minutes to put the hosts in command and Liverpool's only regret may be not building a more emphatic lead to take to northern Portugal for next week's second leg.
“We are happy, it is the first leg and it will be an intense second game,” Klopp told BT Sport. “We scored two goals and controlled the ball most of the time.
“We gave a few too many set pieces away. I think Porto score about 40 percent of their goals from set pieces. We also saw one or two counter-attacks, but the rest of the game we played really well.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 9, 2019
“We lost a little bit of direction in the second half, but there's nothing to criticise, 2-0 is a very, very good result.
"We knew we had to play the second game and we cannot decide the tie tonight, so now we have to go there and fight again.”
Liverpool, who were losing Champions League finalists last year, are top of the Premier League.