Jurgen Klopp quipped that he was "not happy" despite Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final progression after a 3-3 second-leg draw with Benfica, but the German admitted that it would have been "not important" if his side had turned out their performance of the season.
The Reds ran out 6-4 aggregate victors against their Portuguese opponents following Wednesday's clash at Anfield, setting up a semi-final encounter with Villarreal and a potential final date in France with either Manchester City or Real Madrid.
Having led 3-1 though, two consolation concessions made matters a little tougher than they arguably should have been for the hosts, and Klopp joked afterwards that it would only be right for him to be disappointed despite their progression.
What has been said?
"[It is] the day we qualify for the Champions League semi-final and I'm not happy," the German told BT Sport. "Please come and knock me out!
"It was not exactly what we wanted but it is absolutely not important because if we played the best game of the season tonight, it wouldn't have made it more likely to get to the final. We are through and that's all that matters and I'm really happy.
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"The one thing we knew is it [would] be hard as the [back] line [had] never played together. You lose the boys like Virgil [van Dijk] and these things are normal. This is not a problem. Benfica kept believing and kept going, that's all."
Klopp profiles last-four opponent
Liverpool's reward for their victory over Benfica is a clash with the competition's major remaining underdog, who have transitioned last term's Europa League triumph over Manchester United into knockout wins over Juventus and Bayern Munich this season.
Klopp admitted that the Yellow Submarine are a hard opponent to profile, given their success in knockout football, adding: "If I could do an analysis of Villarreal right now, that would be very strange. I saw the results, the game was very impressive.
"I only picked up pieces, but to beat Juventus and Bayern Munich, they deserve to be in the Champions League semi-finals. Unai Emery is the king of the cups, it is unbelievable what he is doing. But give me a bit of time to prepare it properly."