Florian Wirtz: We owe it to secure Champions League place for next season

The Reds’ run in this year’s edition was halted at the quarter-final stage by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night as the holders won 2-0 at Anfield to advance 4-0 on aggregate.

It means the remainder of the campaign for Arne Slot’s side now consists of six Premier League fixtures, with a trip to Everton coming on Sunday.

Liverpool sit fifth in the table currently and the top five finishers are guaranteed qualification for the European Cup next term.

“The focus goes completely to the end of the season for the league,” Wirtz told Liverpoolfc.com following the loss to PSG.

“We have to play [in the] Champions League next season, we owe this to the club and to the fans. We will give our best, like we did today, and hopefully we can make minimum the top five.”

A much-improved second-leg display from Liverpool gave hope of their 2-0 deficit from Paris being overturned.

One pivotal block by Marquinhos denied Virgil van Dijk during the first half and the Reds were awarded a penalty after the break that was then rescinded following a VAR review.

Two strikes from Ousmane Dembele in the latter stages, however, put the tie to bed.

“We tried everything,” said Wirtz. “I think the whole stadium was on fire and the fans, big compliments to them.

“We tried everything from the first minute, but we needed that one goal to get the turnaround started. We were just missing the goal. That’s football – when you don’t score goals, you don’t win games.”

He added: “When you are 2-0 down from the first leg, you just need one goal and at best [it comes] in the first half. We tried everything.

“In the first half it was a bit more difficult to create chances and then in the second half we got some good chances, but in the end there was the little thing that missed in the end to score the goal.

“It’s frustrating but we have to take it and move on.”

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