Jurgen Klopp admits he feared Liverpool would be denied their first Premier League title for 30 years due to the coronavirus crisis.
While the top-flight has now resumed, there were weeks of uncertainty with a null and void campaign a genuine possibility.
“I didn’t think when we went to lockdown ‘Oh my god, that is our season, we are so close’, because it was not important in that moment,” he said.
“I became worried in the moment when people started talking about ‘null and void’ this season because I was like ‘Wow’.
“I really felt it physically. That would have been really, really hard.”
Many leagues, including France’s League 1 and the National League in England, have been decided on a point-per-game basis, which would’ve seen Liverpool crowned champions.
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However, rivals fans would’ve no doubt held an asterisk against the triumph, and Klopp didn’t want to be gifted the title without winning it.
He added: “We don’t expect to get it as a present so we didn’t want to have a points-per-game basis so we were really happy when it was decided we could play again.
“There were moments when some people brought it up from time to time for different reasons but when it was off the table I felt quite relieved.
“If they had done points per game and we couldn’t have played then we would have been champions but now we aren’t and we have to play for it and that is great, that is how it should be in sports.
“And now we go for it. We don’t think in our mind we are already there. It will be tough, tougher than tough, the next few weeks.
“But we will be fine and we will see what we have to celebrate and how we celebrate but these things are only important in the moment when it has finally happened and not before.”
Liverpool return to action against Everton on Sunday, needing two more wins from their remaining nine games to confirm themselves as champions.
