Klopp pays respect to Nottingham Forest, Jota after Liverpool´s FA Cup win

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp compared Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final win against Nottingham Forest to a Champions League atmosphere.

It was a hard-fought 1-0 victory for Klopp’s men, the sides separated only by Diogo Jota’s 78th-minute winner after getting on the end of Kostas Tsimikas’ cross.

Nottingham Forest had a penalty shout turned down after a VAR review with five minutes remaining, while Ryan Yates had a great chance with a header as the 90 minutes expired, but it was straight at Alisson.

Klopp was full of praise for his Championship opponents, saying they contributed to the big-match feel.

“Proper cup match, have to say,” he told ITV.

“You mentioned before, a European night in Nottingham, that’s what it was pretty much!

“I know they don’t get anything for it, but a massive compliment to Steve Cooper and his team, they played a really good game.

“Just that they fought, closed the gaps. We could have and should have played better, but they made it really difficult. 

“First half we should have scored the sitter, Bobby [Roberto Firmino], that’s really unlike him that he doesn’t square the ball, Diogo was in a good position.

“The game stayed open, the atmosphere was a massive boost for them. We came through, and I’m really happy with it.

“[The goal] was not a massive chance, a difficult one to get there and his leg in front of the defender.

“An outstanding goal and he is a striker – a proper striker – in those sorts of situations and a desire to put the body in, absolutely great.”

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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 20, 2022

Jota admitted it was a real fight to get the result.

“It was a tough game, they are a great team, they played with a lot of intensity,” he said.

“They had one big, big, chance and they gave us a proper challenge. It was a really tough game, but we are in the semi-final.

“We fought, we fought really hard.”