Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has paid an emotional tribute to the departing Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain following their 1-1 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that the quartet would depart at the end of their contracts in June, and the visit of Unai Emery's side marked their swansongs in front of the Merseyside faithful.
Firmino and Milner both made the matchday squad and came off the bench on Saturday, where the former fittingly cancelled out a Jacob Ramsey goal in the dying embers to rescue a point for his side.
Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, did not see the field, but all four players were honoured by their teammates, staff, fans and families during a post-game ceremony, while a mural of Firmino was also unveiled outside the ground.
Klopp - who was absent from the touchline due to suspension - was left feeling particularly emotional having watched the quartet's children grow up in front of his eyes, and he hailed Firmino's late leveller as a "wonderful story".
A memorable final Anfield reception for Naby, Ox, Millie and Bobby 👏 pic.twitter.com/xHourZGfms
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 20, 2023
"Definitely, definitely [feeling emotional]. I saw now his [Firmino's] kids, I'm not sure, maybe the eldest one is older than seven probably, that means I know them all since they were babies. Same for Millie," Klopp said in his post-game press conference.
"So, the two boys who came on obviously showed today immediately what we will miss. It's Millie's mentality; I don't want to underestimate really his football – because he played really good football here and today again – but the way he comes in a game, oh my God, whoever will do that for us in the next few years, that is a high, high bar because how many games he won for us in this way is insane.
"Then Bobby comes on, plays top football, is between the lines and scores a fantastic goal. Wonderful story, well deserved the story. This day was not an easy day for us – no excuse for anything, it just was not easy because we all love these four boys.
"What the people did anyway, like the mural for Bobby Firmino... I don't know when I was the last time that touched. Yesterday we drove to the stadium because we leave our cars here and then you pass that and it's not finished yet, it was in the middle of something, and you think, 'Wow'.
"How often these people do the right things in the right moment is absolutely insane. It was a big, big gesture and Bobby was really [touched]. It's a big gesture, I have to say, really big."
Liverpool's final home game of the season was on the verge of ending in failure thanks to Ramsey's volley from a smart angle, which came only a few minutes after Ollie Watkins had sent a penalty wide.
© Reuters
Emery's men did a satisfactory job at shutting up shop for the majority of the second half, but Firmino signed off at Anfield with a smart volley of his own from Mohamed Salah's outside-of-the-foot cross in the 89th minute.
A point has mathematically kept Liverpool's hopes of Champions League qualification alive, but Klopp has resigned himself to Europa League football next season and has admitted that his side were not good enough for long portions of the campaign.
"I think the whole season is rather a season where we qualify for Europa League than for Champions League. We were for too long not good enough or ourselves," Klopp added.
"I think we made it pretty exciting. I didn't think that was possible seven weeks ago, the boys did really well in that period. I think our people enjoyed it as well, you could see today they are not angry with us, they are looking forward to a new Premier League season and Europa League season. So do I. I know we have still a game to play."
Liverpool sit three points behind third-placed Newcastle United - who could confirm Champions League football with a draw against Leicester City on Monday - and Manchester United, who overcame Bournemouth 1-0 to inch ever closer to a top-four finish.
The Reds' final game of the season takes them to St Mary's for a date with already-relegated Southampton next Sunday.
Ben Knapton
