Klopp unconcerned by Núñez’s finishing after open goal miss

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he was relaxed about Darwin Núñez’s finish after the striker missed an open goal as the Merseyside club maintained a perfect record in this season’s Europa League with victory 5-1 over Toulouse.

The 24-year-old, who joined the Premier League club from Portuguese club Benfica in a deal worth an initial €75 million ($79.1 million) in June last year , missed the opportunity to score his second goal of the evening. Thursday against Toulouse in Ligue 1, but put in an impressive performance at Anfield.

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After scoring in the first half, Núñez helped Liverpool move five points clear at the top of Group E. Diogo Jota, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah were all on the scoresheet.

“He played unbelievably. Honestly, at that moment, I don’t care if he hits the post at that moment because everything before was super convincing, was absolutely clear,” Klopp told reporters .

“How he got away from the defender, how he got past the goalkeeper, it was a perfect situation… He’s a happy boy or man in the moment and you can see that every day. And now, We need to make sure it stays that way.”

Klopp said there was much more to come from 21-year-old midfielder Gravenberch, who slipped into the corner moments after Nunez’s miss. It was Gravenberch’s first consecutive start in 18 months, having joined Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day in September.

“I really like him as a boy and a player, and it’s really nice to see how much he’s starting to believe in himself again. That’s obviously very important for every player, but especially for a young player.” , Klopp said of Gravenberch.

When asked what he thought of Liverpool this season, Klopp replied: “I think it’s really easy to fall in love with this team because they [has] so much excitement in there.

“The way the teams interact with each other is really nice, because when you talk about rebuilding a team, obviously it all depends on the things you see on the field, but to see that there has to be a rebuild off the field as well — and it’s going really well.”

Fourth in the Premier League, Liverpool are three points off the top of the table and will soon host Nottingham Forest on Sunday.