Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac was full of praise for Liverpool after seeing his side well beaten in their last-16 Champions League tie.
The Bavarian giants held the Reds to a goalless draw at Anfield in the first leg, but they were defeated 3-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
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From having their attacking threat entirely nullified to Liverpool’s attackers showing real quality in the final third to make the difference and to secure their place in the quarter-finals, few would argue that Jurgen Klopp’s men didn’t deserve to go through.
That is a sentiment shared by the Bayern boss, as he showed real class after the game in conceding that Liverpool were indeed the better side and praised his counterpart for ‘showing us our limits’.
“We had a strong opponent and we have to congratulate Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp,” he is quoted as saying by Goal.com. “They were better in these two matches and we deserved to lose. The opponent attacked us very high and left no spaces, that made it difficult for us.
“On top of that it was not our best day. Liverpool are a top team in Europe and they showed us our limits.
“You saw after the second goal how much quality they have.”
It remains to be seen if Liverpool can now use this as a springboard to continue their run in the Champions League this season, aiming to go one better than last year after falling short in the final against Real Madrid.
A win over a fellow European giant like Bayern will undoubtedly boost their confidence and belief, and judging from Kovac’s assessment of the Reds, he arguably quite fancies them to go all the way after seeing their quality up close over the two legs.
