Jurgen Klopp refused to blame Adrian after the goalkeeper’s gaffe in Liverpool’s Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid.
With Liverpool 2-0 up on the night and leading on aggregate, Adrian inadvertently allowed Atleti back into the game when his dreadful clearance was pounced on and Marcos Llorente fired home to level the tie.
Adrian was to concede twice more, with Llorente scoring a second to fire his side into the lead, before Alvaro Morata put the seal on a 4-2 aggregate win for the La Liga side.
In contrast, Atletico keeper Jan Oblak showed why is regarded as one of the world’s best, making save after save to thwart the Europan Cup holders.
Afterwards, Klopp insisted Adrian was not to blame for Liverpool’s last-16 exit.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
“If you lose, you lose for some reason,” said the Reds manager.
“The first goal is pretty obvious, but come on, Adrian has saved us so many times since he’s here.
“He makes the wrong decision, that’s clear, but that’s how football is and nothing to blame.”
While Adrian’s howler allowed Atletico to level the tie, Klopp pointed out that it wasn’t the moment the game was lost, and acknowledged that Liverpool had plenty of chances to win the tie.
(Image: Getty Images)
“We will not blame him for a second,” Klopp added. “He saved us in so many moments. This was not a moment we lost the game but it had a big impact.
“We conceded more goals after that and we didn’t score the goals we needed.
“He’s a grown man and he will deal with that.”
Liverpool’s first-choice keeper Alisson is currently sidelined with a hip injury and is not expected back until early next month.
