Dejan Lovren has revealed what he said in his half-time rant that helped the Reds ultimately go on and beat Man City in Tuesday’s Champions League, quarter-final 2nd leg.
The Croatian centre-back impressed under the most intense of pressures alongside Virgil van Dijk in the first 45 minutes, as Pep Guardiola’s side piled forward in the hope they could find the goals they needed to come back in the tie.
Despite the all-out attack from City, Liverpool managed to keep the score down to just 1-0, something which undoubtedly was advantageous when Lovren’s side became more dominant in the second half.
The much improved performance began in the dressing room at half-time, with Jurgen Klopp making a few key tactical changes and with Lovren having his say to inspire his fellow teammates.
To be honest I was shouting a bit at half-time. I told the lads to wake up because it was not good enough and I said we were sitting too deep.
Of course Klopp said ‘Yes you are sitting too deep because you are not pushing up’. He wanted me and Virg (Virgil van Dijk) to be more compact and push the team up, but it was quite difficult to push up when City had the ball.
It was all positive, there was nothing negative, but I needed to remind the guys that we had 50 minutes to be in the semi-finals of the Champions League and we needed to give more.
His words clearly worked, as Liverpool scored twice in the second half of the game, Mohamed Salah (who else?) with a chip finish and Firmino with an accurate passing shot.
Heading into the semi-finals, the Merseysiders must fancy beating anyone, but Lovren does have his preferred choice for the draw.
From a personal point of view I don’t want Real Madrid in the semi-finals. They have a lot of experience in the Champions League, a lot of records and over the past three seasons it is always them. But whoever we get will find it difficult to come to Anfield and score some goals.
Liverpool fans won’t have to wait long to find out their fate, with the draw taking place on Friday (13th April).
