Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has criticised the behaviour of a pitch invader after an accidental collision with Adrian left the goalkeeper with an ankle injury and a doubt for the trip to Southampton.
Adrian marked his first start for the Reds with the decisive save from Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham in the Super Cup final penalty shootout on Wednesday, but as he celebrated with his team-mates, a supporter slid into the Spaniard.
The 32-year-old summer signing is deputising for Alisson Becker, sidelined for a number of weeks because of a calf complaint, meaning Klopp may be forced to deploy 35-year-old third-choice Andy Lonergan on Saturday.
When asked whether the former West Ham shot-stopper’s shootout heroics in Istanbul would boost his confidence, Klopp responded: “It would help him a lot if it would be 100 per cent clear he can play tomorrow.
“A supporter jumped over something, was chased by some security guys, slipped and kicked his ankle. It’s crazy.
“There’s no doubt about how much we love our fans but if they could all stop doing that. We played against City, somebody was running on the pitch? And Norwich there was someone as well.
“The girl in the Champions League final made money from it, I don’t know what you can do against it.
“I like the fact that we don’t have the fences in the stadiums but that means there is a lot of responsibility for the supporters as well.
“If the one person cannot hesitate or stop himself then the people around should do it. It’s not funny. It’s crazy, you see it and you think ‘wow, how can something like this happen?'”
PA has contacted UEFA for a comment on the incident, with videos on social media showing a fan slipping into a group of huddled-together Liverpool players after being grabbed by a steward.
Elaborating on Adrian’s ankle, Klopp added: “Yesterday it was swollen, today I spoke to him and he said ‘it’s much better than yesterday’ but we have to see.
“He will not go for a scan. It went down already. You can imagine you have that and you fly four hours back and it doesn’t help swelling, so he couldn’t have played directly after we landed in Liverpool.
“But I saw him now, it’s OK and it looks better. But a decision will be made tomorrow, no chance to make it earlier.”
Alisson’s injury prompted Liverpool to sign Lonergan on a short-term contract, the former Preston, Leeds and Bolton goalkeeper having trained with the Merseysiders over the summer.
Asked whether Lonergan would be ready to step in, Klopp responded: “Yeah. (Caoimhin) Kelleher is now in training as well, so we have them. If we have to make a decision, we have to make a decision.”
Klopp, who will definitely be without midfielder Naby Keita because of a muscle strain, refused to be drawn on his side’s demanding schedule, with their visit to the south coast coming three days after the Super Cup final in Turkey.
Mo ➡️ Bobby ⚽️Bobby ➡️ Mo ⚽️— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 16, 2019
He added: “My plan when I heard about the fixtures was to win on Wednesday, to win on Saturday and to speak about it after that because if you speak about it earlier, it sounds you’re looking for excuses. I don’t, we don’t, it’s like it is.
“Was it right that we played on Friday and Chelsea on Sunday? No. The other things we cannot change.
“We cannot change these things, we have no power, absolutely nil power. We only have to accept it like it is and that’s what we do.”
