Jurgen Klopp defends Liverpool's poor performance against Manchester City

A week ago, Liverpool secured their first Premier League title in 30 years. On Thursday, they faced the biggest defeat of their league campaign this season, and that too against the 2018-19 champions, Manchester City.

City thumped the Reds 4-0 in an empty Etihad stadium. A match that could have been a fairytale ending for Jurgen Klopp and his men turned out to be a nightmare.

Last year, Liverpool lost only one game throughout the league, but still ended up being runners-up next to City, who had lost four games in total. Eventually, they missed the title by just a one point deficit.

It would have been poetic justice if the Reds could have beaten the last two consecutive years' champions at their own den. But even Klopp couldn't have imagined what was waiting for them in Manchester.

A 0-4 defeat is always embarrassing, especially when the team on the losing side is about to be crowned champions. But it seems the Liverpool head coach doesn't see a problem with his team's performance.

In a post-match interview, Klopp said, "If you want to lead the story in the direction that we were not focused on that game, then do it. I saw a brilliant attitude. I saw fight. If there is a team in the world that can smash us like this, it is probably City. We lacked fluidity, that's for sure. And in some 50-50 situations, they were quicker than us in mind. They used their chances and we didn't. City are incredible. I've seen their games - they haven't played a bad game all season. "

Their defeat against City marked only the second loss for Liverpool in the league this season.

On the other hand, Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola believes that Liverpool's sharp start in the game proved that they weren't distracted or "drained by their celebrations." According to the BBC, he jokingly said that last week, the players drank a lot of beer, but they didn't carry any drop of it in their blood when they stepped on the ground on Thursday.