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Klopp applauds Real Madrid for playing You'll Never Walk Alone at the Bernabeu

  /  autty

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has spoken off the 'respect' between his side and Real Madrid after You'll Never Walk Alone was played at the end of Liverpool's 1-0 loss at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

Instead of the 14-times Champions League winners playing their usual 'Hala Madrid' anthem around the stadium, Liverpool's historic anthem was blared out of speakers as both sets of fans waved their scarves.

It came as a mark of gratitude from Real after the Reds paid tribute to Amancio Amaro, the club's honorary President who passed away shortly before the first leg,  by laying flowers for the legendary forward at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp praised Real for the classy moment, as he said after the game: 'People told me, my staff told me after the game. It is a really nice gesture.

'We are two heavyweights who meet each other quite frequently in international football. I think it is clear we respect each other a lot.'

Liverpool failed to match their 2019 heroics that saw them overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit to beat Barcelona, as they were outplayed across two legs by Real Madrid and lost 6-2 on aggregate.

It was the latest in a series of recent European clashes between the two sides, who have met twice in the final since 2018, with Real winning both.

They have both been key UCL teams In the last decade, with at least one of them featuring in six of the past nine finals.

It wasn't to be for the Reds this year, though. Klopp said he was 'not angry, but disappointed' after they failed to pull off a miracle in Madrid.

'I would be angry if we would have played better and it was close and they won because of a penalty which isn't a penalty or things like that,' he said, 'but in the end that all didn't happen.

'Real Madrid was just the better side. I'm long enough in the business to respect that.

'With the history we have in this competition, we start usually in the competition with the idea of winning it, to be honest.'

On whether the Reds will qualify for the Champions League next season, he added: 'We want to be a part of it every year, and that's now a massive task for us. We all know that.

'When we come back from the international break we have a proper football week ahead of us, I would say, with three games – City, Chelsea and Arsenal.

'They will probably define where we get out of it.'