Jordan Henderson defends Liverpool performance in CL Final against Spurs

Liverpool captain, Jordan Henderson, insists that his side put in a ‘mature’ display in last season’s Champions League final against Tottenham (Liverpool FC).

Spurs dramatically secured their place in the final following a second-half masterclass from Lucas Moura in Amsterdam against Ajax (BBC).

However, the Lilywhites suffered a 2-0 defeat in their first-ever Champions League final appearance as the Reds claimed their sixth trophy.

Despite claims from some fans and pundits that the final was a dull affair, Henderson claims it was a measured performance from the Reds.

He said: “To get the penalty and score the first goal, which is always important, it maybe changes the mindset a little bit for both teams, but ultimately I thought having scored so early on, having reflected on the game and watched it back – because when you are in the game and are trying to find solutions straight after the game you think we didn’t quite play probably to the levels that we had previously and wasn’t a great performance – but actually when I analysed the game and I looked back at it I thought we handled the situation very well.

“It was a very mature performance, we defended really well and did everything we needed to do in a final to win the game, so there was still a lot of positive things looking back on the game.

“Yes, 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline because one mistake or one special moment from a Spurs player and it’s all level again,” said Henderson.

“It’s always dangerous but in the best way I thought we controlled it defensively really well.

“We are known a lot for going forward, creating so many chances and scoring so many goals, but I thought the defensive performance from everybody that night was pretty good.

“Even though we were defending for maybe large parts of the game I still felt in control.

“We did it very well and we were hard to break down. I knew if we could create one or two more chances going forward then we can get another one.”

Liverpool took the lead in the second minute from the penalty spot following a handball ruled against Moussa Sissoko after just 22 seconds (BBC). Mo Salah provided Liverpool with the lead and Tottenham’s fate was sealed late on as Divock Origi netted their second.

Spurs Web Opinion

The penalty obviously changed the game plan for both sides. However, the chances were there for Spurs, but we failed to take our chances. Heung-min Son had a few good opportunities – as did Harry Kane. In the end, there was one side which did, ultimately, take their opportunities and we were left to rue what could’ve been.

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