Jurgen Klopp believes losing Mohamed Salah through injury had a big effect on his Liverpool team as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kyiv.
Liverpool started the better of the two teams and enjoyed chances as they put the Spaniards under pressure.
But the Reds lost star man Salah on the half hour mark after he was involved in a challenge with Sergio Ramos and hurt his shoulder, being unable to continue; Adam Lallana replaced the forward.
A Loris Karius error, as he rolled the ball to Karim Benzema, saw Real Madrid take the lead in the 51st minute, but Liverpool hit back just four minutes later through Sadio Mane.
Despite the equaliser, Real Madrid continued to apply pressure and substitute Gareth Bale produced a stunning overhead kick to fire Los Blancos ahead again.
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Then, with Liverpool chasing the game, Karius made another error as he fumbled a long-range effort from Bale, meaning it was 3-1 to Real Madrid with seven minutes left.
Liverpool had no answer and slipped to a defeat which means Klopp has now lost his last six cup finals as a manager, with three of those coming in charge of the Reds.
And the German pinpointed losing Salah as something which had a big effect on his team.
He told BT Sport: "The plan is only to play to win, nothing else, not a lot to say.
"We started well and played exactly like we wanted to.
"The situation with Sergio Ramos [and Salah] looked really bad and it was a shock for the team, we lost the positive momentum and they immediately came up.
"We dropped deep and we could not get to Luka Modric or Toni Kroos.
"We had to run and work, we did that and half-time came.
"What can I say about the goals? We scored one, they scored three."
Klopp also explained that he feels Karius made his second big mistake in the game as a direct result of his first.
"Loris Karius knows it, everybody knows it.
"That is a shame in a game like this, in a season like this. I feel for him, he is a fantastic boy.
"The second mistake is because of the first one."
Liverpool will have the chance to go one better next season in the Champions League as they have booked a spot in the competition for next term by finishing fourth in the Premier League.
