Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been left "really happy" after an independent report cleared Reds fans of responsibility for the disgraceful scenes prior to last season's Champions League final.
Real Madrid beat the Merseyside club 1-0 at the Stade de France courtesy of a Vinicius Junior winner, but the match was overshadowed by fans being penned in and tear-gassed outside the ground.
Kickoff was delayed by 36 minutes as Liverpool fans struggled to gain access to the stadium, but police and the French authorities initially pointed the finger at ticketless supporters.
However, an independent report has found that UEFA bore "primary responsibility" for the distressing scenes prior to the match, claiming that it was "remarkable" that no lives were lost.
French police and the French Football Federation were also blamed for "contributory fault", while Liverpool fans were praised for taking "instrumental" action to prevent fatalities.
© Reuters
Speaking to liverpoolfc.com following the findings of the report, Klopp expressed joy and relief while also affirming that plenty of lessons needed to be learned from the chaos.
"I think it's super-important that, finally, it's official, let me say it like this. I'm not sure, at least in my life, there was never a case with more evidence, where I knew more about [it] when I was not directly involved, because I was on the other side of the wall in the stadium, pretty much," Klopp said.
"But families, friends, they were all there and everybody knew how our supporters behaved, but it really feels good, it feels just right that it's now official and everybody knows it now because there were so many things said after the game, which we knew they were wrong. It was just lies. So, I'm really happy that it's finally said officially."
The 2021-22 Champions League final was initially set to be staged at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but the location was switched to France following the invasion of Ukraine.
While Klopp accepted that changing the venue only a few months prior to the match presented difficulties, he conceded that officials failed to make the right decisions under time pressure.
© Reuters
"There were big mistakes made. That they had to change the venue a few months before that actually when it happened, I understand and that's difficult. But to put it into a stadium which is not used regularly, so just for some big events and stuff like this and not all the time," Klopp added.
"Big events are organised so often and when you are under pressure, you have time pressure, you still have to make the right decisions and that's [a] responsibility for specific people. And so yes, I hope they listen, I hope they learn.
"Staying calm in a situation where nobody really can stay calm, tear gas in your eyes, pressure from up front, from the side, from behind, being locked in between thousands of people and not pushing like crazy, staying calm, is a massive thing to do and an extremely difficult thing to do.
"And then getting out of it and getting blamed for that, it's horrible. It's really horrible. So there are some jobs to do and I hope they do it properly because these kind of events should be a pure joy to watch.
"You pay a lot of money, it's a lot of work to qualify, then you go there, everything is a positive mood and in the end you're just happy to arrive somehow in the stadium when you made it. When you hear it first time, you cannot believe it, that that all happened in that time, but it did. So, yes, there's a lot to improve and I hope everybody learned from it."
Liverpool and Real Madrid renew hostilities for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next Tuesday at Anfield, prior to which Klopp's men face Newcastle United in Saturday's Premier League contest.
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic