Klopp thrilled as Liverpool advance in Europa League

Jurgen Klopp sported a huge smile and declared himself "very happy" as Liverpool ensured their progress to the Europa League knockout stage with a 2-1 victory over Bordeaux.

A James Milner penalty and a Christian Benteke blast saw the Reds recover after Henri Saivet’s free-kick opener at Anfield.

The performance was flawed, but the result was enough to place Liverpool at the summit of Group B with one fixture still to play – against FC Sion in Switzerland.

“I am very happy to have qualified, the team are very happy to have qualified, the club are very happy to be qualified, so you can be very happy!” Klopp told reporters post-match.

“[Finishing] top of the table is important, but not the most important thing because there are only good teams in the next round.

“We will try everything when we travel to Sion in two weeks, but there are 50 games between then and now! We have to think about Swansea from tomorrow onwards and that’s what we will do.”

Liverpool found it hard to exert dominance over a Bordeaux side desperately trying to avoid Europa League elimination, especially in the second half when the visitors became more expansive in their approach.

“There were many good things in this game tonight, but some things were difficult,” Klopp admitted.

“After the half-time score, Bordeaux had to go with a little bit more risk and it was more difficult for us because we lost a little bit of the control in the game. We couldn’t close the half spaces in the midfield, we were too wide on the wings or sometimes we were too deep.

“They did well but we knew [about them] before and that it can be difficult to defend against them, so you have to be better with the ball and then they cannot do this.

“The first half was okay, the start of the second half was okay and then it became more difficult, but that’s normal with this result.