Jurgen Klopp has admitted he is ‘disappointed’ Liverpool are out of the FA Cup, but could not begrudge the effort on display from his players in west London.
Recalled Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalga pulled off a stunning triple save as Willian and Ross Barkley’s strikes condemned the Reds to a third defeat in four matches.
Under-fire stopper Kepa seized the chance to reassert his worth to boss Frank Lampard as the Blues battled to a fine 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win at Stamford Bridge.
Only two weeks ago runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool had lost just twice in 41 matches in all competitions this season.
Fast forward 14 days and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have surrendered their rampant form, with defeat at Atletico Madrid, a 3-0 humbling at Watford and now this hefty blow in west London.
Liverpool still boast a 22-point Premier League lead over second-placed Manchester City, with a first top-flight title in 30 years no doubt a mere formality.
However, the chance to go down in history and complete an historic treble is now out of reach for the German.
“We are disappointed, as much as you can be,” Klopp told talkSPORT’s James Savundra.
“We tried everything; I think everyone saw that at least, the effort was sensational. It was all good, everybody tried everything.
“Of course we are disappointed and this has nothing to do with games in the Premier League or in the Champions League.
“But we have now four days until we play Bournemouth at 12.30 so we have to be ready, and we will be ready.”
Reds keeper Adrian will feel disappointed in himself for failing to keep out Chelsea’s first goal, with Willian’s shot squirming out of his grasp and into the back of the net.
However, Liverpool blew chances in the remainder of the half and could well have made their dominance pay in the second half.
But Ross Barkley’s sparkling run and spectacular finish condemned the visitors to yet another defeat and Klopp bemoaned his side’s inability to take their chances.
He added: “We dominated big parts of the second half until the score was 2-0 and we did a lot of really good stuff.
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“I like how we played between the lines, but did we have enough chances? Probably not, but that’s how it is.
“It’s ‘if’ and ‘when’ and stuff like this if we do not concede the goals and it looks different, but we did conceded these goals and so it didn’t help.
“We are out, that’s how it is.”
