“So a football team is like an orchestra where plenty of people work together and if you lose one piece you might be able to still do it, but if you lose two then it becomes difficult,” he said.
“It is how I said before this year, with the amount of injuries we have had it was not the year to become champions. No chance. For nobody.
“As good as they are, if City have their three centre-halves out, no [they don’t win the league]. Three centre-halves of United, no.
“For the whole season pretty much too, that is how it is.
“We have fought back a bit, accepted the difficulties and made the best of it, and if we win on Sunday, and if we qualify for the Champions League, then we made the best of it. That is it.
“Ask Manchester United now if at the moment they like the Europa League (they are in the final) and they would say ‘yes’. They love to play the final and have the chance to win.
“So we already did kind of a job but not the one we wanted to do.”
During their title-winning campaign, Klopp frequently hailed his players as “mentality monsters”.
This season it has required a different kind of mental resilience and the manager believes it has made them stronger.
“Yes it means as much to me [as the title win]. It is clear we wouldn’t come to this situation if the boys wouldn’t have showed this kind of character. They have very special character,” he added.
“Sometimes we suffer things, we don’t have a lot of influence on that. That’s why things go the wrong way, but I never question the character or the mentality of this team.
“If you ever questioned the character of the players in a not so good period, you have to ask yourself why you did that.
