Jurgen Klopp Praises Star With 'Exceptional' Soccer Knowledge After Liverpool's 2-1 Win

Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on Tyler Morton, saying the young midfielder showed "exceptional" soccer knowledge and brain in Liverpool FC's 2-1 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old now has started in two back-to-back Champions League fixtures for Liverpool. Overall, the English midfielder has made five appearances for Liverpool's first team in the 2021-22 campaign.

"I don't want to make his life more complicated than it is already with playing at such a young age for a club like Liverpool in a game like this with a performance like this, so I think we should all calm down – but it was really good tonight. And it was a big pleasure to watch the boy playing and the football knowledge, the football brain he showed tonight was absolutely exceptional," Klopp told Liverpool's official website after his side's win in Italy.

The German boss also said Morton defended "incredibly" and gelled well with Takumi Minamino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

"If you are technically on that level – and he is, obviously – and you have then such good orientation then sometimes you have enough time for doing good stuff. That was what he did tonight. On top of that, he defended incredibly well, together with the other boys. I have to say, it was really exceptional what Oxlade and Taki did in these half-spaces," added Klopp.

Fikayo Tomori put AC Milan1-0 up after 28 minutes before Mohamed Salah struck a 36th minute-equalizer for Liverpool on Tuesday. It was Salah's seventh goal in the Champions League this season – the most goals for the Reds in the group stage of a European competition. Overall, it was Salah's 20th strike of the campaign and with that, he became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush to score that many goals in five straight seasons.

Continuing his good run in the ongoing season, Divock Origi netted the winner for Liverpool yet again. It was also his first Champions League goal since scoring in the final of the 2018-19 final.

In Liverpool's previous fixture, which was a Premier League clash with Wolves, Origi scored an injury-time winner to hand the Reds three crucial points.

Origi, who was named the UEFA Player of the Match, said Liverpool played well as a team against AC Milan.

"It was a beautiful night. We enjoyed it. I think as a team we played very well. We all wanted to play our best game, playing in San Siro – a beautiful stadium, a historical stadium – against a very strong team. That's what we live for. We tried to give our best and, in the end, being able to win 2-1, for us is the best thing," Origi was quoted by Liverpool's official website.

Meanwhile, Liverpool, who are yet to lose a game in the underway campaign of the Champions League, became the first English club to remain unbeaten at the end of the group stage.