For Liverpool, none of that mattered in the end; the club had never lost a shoot-out in a final before.
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The decision to rest players against Chelsea “was very important to win these two games”, said Pellegrini, who had also led City to League Cup glory in 2014.
Emre Can, Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Leiva and Adam Lallana stepped up to take Liverpool’s spot-kicks and all but Can saw their efforts saved by opposition goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
Pellegrini says his goalkeeper has a proven penalty-saving technique.
“We asked the players and these five players said “yes”, Klopp told Sky Sports”. I tried to watch all the penalties last night but my intuition got me through.
“I’m very happy, not because it is my final season, I’m happy for a lot of things”. I’m happy for the performance of the team against a very hard side in Liverpool, everyone remembers the game we lost at the Etihad. “But saying that, if you [ask] me what way I prefer to win, I prefer to win this way”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Fernandinho said: “After all it feels very good – the emotion”. It should have been a routine save but the ball went straight through Mignolet.
But the England worldwide believes Jurgen Klopp’s side must use the disappointment of losing as motivation to triumph in the Europa League, in which they face Manchester United in a mouthwatering last-16 tie. “That’s how it is and we have to accept it”. You can’t say, ‘Oh, I don’t care, it’s not important.’ It was important.
“To come so close to winning a trophy and going out on penalties is always tough to take”, added Lallana. We have felt how it is to lose.
“Only silly idiots stay on the floor and wait for the next defeat, we will strike back 100%”. It is not the best moment but on Monday morning maybe we can change everything.
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Willy Caballero acknowledged he had suffered a hard week in the build-up to Manchester City’s League Cup final success on Sunday, but thanked Manuel Pellegrini for sticking with him. It is really important.
