Jurgen Klopp didn't have to count the cost of a hatful of missed opportunities in his side’s win over Red Bull Salzburg, but the Liverpool boss admitted that Naby Keita’s opener played a huge part in breaking the hosts’ resolve.
Keita returned to Austria to haunt his former team and Mohamed Salah eventually got on the scoresheet to secure a 2-0 win which ensured Liverpool advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League as Group E winners.
The Egypt international had missed a hat-trick of relatively simple chances, by his standards at least, but slid home a curling shot from the narrowest of angles which virtually brushed the near post before creeping inside the far upright.
That came around a minute after Keita headed home Sadio Mane's cross, the two former Salzburg players combining to ease the nerves after Klopp's side endured a challenging first half.
But the moment Salah's goal went in it was plain sailing for the defending champions and the forward could still have had a couple more before the end.
"They were good, but we had sitters, we had big chances and we didn’t score them," Klopp admitted.
"You saw the impact of our first goal had on them, it changed a little bit and it took a bit of their belief away."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gives RTÉ Sport's Peter Collins his view on the win over Salzburg. #SALLIV #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/DlxIpAWaln
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 10, 2019
The 52-year-old had plenty of respect for Jese Mensch’s charges going into the game, with their first-half performance confirming Liverpool’s pre-match view of the Austrians.
"We did proper analysis and we respected a lot before the game what they did," Klopp said. "And after the first half we respected them even more because it was an incredible game that they played.
"We were good as well, but if you come here as a big favourite it can happen that you try to play a little bit of football and the other team ask for a very, very intense game
"We were ready for an intense game, I love that from my team."
Liverpool needed only a point to be sure of progress but went comfortably through in the end and, until the competition resumes in February, they can turn their attention to consolidating their place at the top of the Premier League - in addition to the Club World Cup in Qatar next week.
The Reds have an eight-point lead over Leicester domestically, having dropped just two points in 16 matches, and will feel confident they have a good chance of reaching a third successive Champions League final.
The one downside to the performance was Dejan Lovren being forced off for the second successive match with a hamstring problem.
