Ryan Gravenberch joined Liverpool less than three weeks ago, but already he’s got Jurgen Klopp enthused about his performances. Liverpool came from behind to beat LASK 3-1 in their UEFA Europa League opener on Thursday, with Klopp describing Gravenberch as “the best player on the pitch”. The 21-year-old joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich on deadline day for a fee of £34.2 million.
Jurgen Klopp believes Ryan Gravenberch was Liverpool’s best player in their UEFA Europa League win on Thursday, despite the fact he only joined the club three weeks ago.
Liverpool kicked off their UEFA Europa League campaign on Thursday evening with a 3-1 win against LASK in Linz, Austria, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Klopp’s side were forced to come from behind to win for a fourth time this season, after Florian Flecker put the hosts ahead from a corner situation.
Liverpool drew level after the break through a Darwin Nunez penalty, before Luis Diaz put his side ahead and Mohamed Salah added a third.
Gravenberch started as Klopp named a completely changed team to the one that beat Wolves 3-1 on Saturday, earning his first Liverpool start since arriving from Bayern Munich on deadline day.
Despite barely playing with his new team-mates over the last few weeks, Klopp was delighted with his £34.2m summer recruit.
“He did really well,” the Liverpool boss told TNT Sports. “For a long time, he was the best player on the pitch, for sure.
“But in the first half, the frustration [from Liverpool players grew] and you saw him getting lost a little bit as well. That’s normal, these things happen.”
The 21-year-old didn’t last the full 90 minutes due to cramp, but he did set up Luis Diaz to score Liverpool’s second goal with a superb cross.
“He stayed in the game as long as he could,” Klopp said. “Really good moments, very good moments, set up a goal for Lucho [Luis Diaz].
“For not knowing a lot about his team-mates, he looked pretty in-tune.”
Some Reds fans will be concerned by Liverpool’s first-half performance, especially the fact that they conceded first yet again.
While Klopp admitted there are things his side need to work on, overall he was happy with the performance.
“In the first half, obviously we struggled with different things,” Klopp said. “The opponent had one shot on target and it was in, off a set piece.
“It’s not like they created chance after chance, but they caused us problems with the long balls and second-ball approach, that was clear from the beginning.
“We struggled with the pitch too. That’s our fault, but we have to get used to these kinds of things.
“Second half we were much better. I saw enough positive stuff [in the] first half to show the boys that if we do that, if we get rid of the frustration I saw in the first half, then we have a very good chance of turning it around. So I’m really pleased. It’s an away win and I’m happy.”
Elsewhere in Group E, Union St. Gilloise and Toulouse shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw.
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