Liverpool missed the Champions League spot in a draw in Leeds

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Leeds players warmed up with Earn it t-shirts under the Champions League logo

Photo: 

Clive Brunskill / dpa

Liverpool FC missed the leap to fourth place in the English Premier League, accompanied by massive protests against the Super League plans.

Team manager Jürgen Klopp's eleven only drew 1: 1 (1: 0) at promoted Leeds United despite a long lead.

Leeds had surprisingly won at Manchester City two weeks earlier - two shots on goal were enough for the team against the league leaders.

Diego Llorente (87th) equalized Liverpool's lead from Sadio Mane (87th).

This means that the Reds have to continue to worry about qualifying for the premier class - in which they may neither want nor be allowed to participate in the coming season.

In front of, in and above the stadium in Leeds there were protests on Monday against the planned Super League, of which Liverpool is a founding member.

When the team bus arrived, fans displayed a banner on the fence that read, “Love for the game of the working class, ruined by greed and corruption.

RIP LFC.

Thanks for the memories ”, a plane flew over the arena with a banner that read“ Say no to the Super League ”.

People burned a club shirt in front of the stadium.

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Zac Goodwin / dpa

Captain Milner faces the elite league

The opponent protested too: The Leeds players warmed themselves with T-shirts with the words "Earn it" under the Champions League logo on one side and the phrase "Football is for the fans" (football is for the fans) on the other hand.

According to Klopp, the shirts were also in the Reds' cabin.

Klopp showed understanding for the protests of the fans, before the game he told Sky Sports that he would continue to reject the Super League.

Nevertheless, he was indignant.

In his opinion, neither he nor his players should be lumped together with the owners of the English soccer champions.

“The team has nothing to do with it.

And I don't really have anything to do with it either.

But that's how people treat us.

Leeds fans yelled at us in town when we went for a walk in town that afternoon, ”he said after the game.

"Our owners made the decision, this is part of the club, but the whole club is bigger than any of us."

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On the other side was: "Football is for the fans"

Photo: Lee Smith / POOL / EPA

Liverpool captain James Milner was the first professional from one of the twelve Super League founding clubs to publicly oppose the plans.

"I don't like it and I hope it won't happen," said Milner after the game.

Klopp said he has no plans to personally draw any conclusions from his employer's involvement. “It's not what I heard today that I'm going to resign or whatever. When times get tougher, I'll stick even more and stay here, "said the 53-year-old. He himself only found out about the plans on Sunday. “I heard about it for the first time yesterday. We have some information, not much, most of it from the papers, ”he said. Klopp had already spoken out against a possible elite league of European top clubs in 2019.

On Monday night, twelve European top clubs from England, Italy and Spain announced that they wanted to found their own international Super League.

This also includes Liverpool FC.

The Super League would be in direct competition with Uefa's Champions League.

ngo / dpa / sid