Jurgen Klopp allayed concerns about the fitness of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s Champions League final match against Real Madrid on May 28 by saying the players were ‘fine’ after being substituted during the FA Cup final shootout. victory over Chelsea.
Salah, Liverpool’s top scorer this season with 30 goals, was knocked out of the cup final after just 33 minutes due to a thigh injury, while Van Dijk failed to appear in extra time due to a muscle problem.
Ogden: Can Liverpool shake off their fatigue to win two more titles this season?
– You don’t have ESPN? Get instant pass
Both players entered the field at the end of the match as the rest of Klopp’s players ran to celebrate after Costas Tsimekas scored the decisive penalty in the 6-5 penalty shootout win.
But although Klopp said Salah and Van Dijk were unlikely to play in Tuesday’s Premier League match against Southampton at St Mary’s, the Liverpool boss was more upbeat about the full extent of their injuries.
“I suspect [Salah, Van Dijk] “It’s kind of okay,” Klopp told Alexis Nunes of ESP. “I don’t think they would be ready for Tuesday, to be honest… I don’t think they were ready for Tuesday anyway!
“But I think they’re fine, it was just a precaution. Mo felt something, he said I could move on and I had to make a decision, I said no… If you feel something on the pitch, it’s not. You will improve. [if you keep playing]Staying is not the best cure!
“With Virgil it was more clear: 90 minutes yes, 120 minutes no.
“But what an attitude, I brought him to Joel Matip! Oh my gosh! That’s really cool. So, it’s all right.”
Asked by reporters as he left the stadium if he was fit for the Champions League final, Salah replied, “Of course.”
Liverpool have now won two titles this season – the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup – and are still striving for glory in the Premier League and the Champions League.
Captain Jordan Henderson said Liverpool were now focused only on winning the remaining games of the season.
“We’ve won twice so far this season,” Henderson said. “We still have some big matches ahead. We just need to keep going to the end and see what we can finish.
“We have to recover quickly, another big game on Tuesday against Southampton, we have to be ready for that. Then Wolverhampton at the weekend to finish the Premier League season and then the Champions League final.
“We have three big games left and hopefully we can win all three and finish the season at a high level.”
