Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he is already looking forward to Champions League football next season after securing a top-four spot in the Premier League.
Goals from Georginio Wijnaldum, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana ensured that the Reds beat Middlesbrough at Anfield this afternoon to hold off the challenge of Arsenal and finish fourth in the table.
Liverpool will play Champions League football for just the second time in the space of eight years next season as a result, and Klopp believes that the five-time European champions deserve their place back among the elite.
"It is the best tournament in Europe - there is nothing better, maybe in the world. You want to be there. Liverpool needs to be there consistently. I am not saying we are already in, qualification is qualification, I am already looking forward to it. We will be really strong and really fight for it and we want to be there. It's all good. It's a fantastic competition. In the last 10 years Liverpool was not a part of it too often. We should do everything to change this, that's always the way," he told reporters.
"You have to make steps and the step is for us to be around the best teams in the world because we are at one of the best clubs in the world. In the middle of the first part of the season I knew we were ready, but you have to do it, there were a lot of games after this. You could say after we beat Arsenal there (4-3 in the first game) in this manner it should be possible.
"We played in a lot of games really outstanding good football. That showed what we can do. We learned a lot in this year about ourselves and we can use it. We are not confident enough in general. When something doesn't work it always feels something slips through your fingers. So I am really happy we achieved a little bit of something that we didn't achieve too often in the past. For development you need to feel the improvement, feel the next step that it's right."
Liverpool finish the season on 76 points - 16 better off than last term.
Barney Corkhill
