ROME, Italy -- Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool reaching the Champions League final would be something he "could not have expected" at the start of the season.
Liverpool are 90 minutes away from their first European Cup final in 11 years as they hold a 5-2 advantage over Roma after the first leg of their semifinal tie.
After finishing fourth in the 2016-17 Premier League, Klopp's side had to beat Hoffenheim in a two-legged playoff for the right to play in the group stages of the Champions League itself.
The Reds, who are also on course to achieve another top-four finish, have had to deal with a number of injuries to key players at various points of the season, while they lost Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona midway through the campaign.
"I cannot have final thoughts about the season because it is not over, but I have seen a lot of development and a lot of exciting games," Klopp told reporters. "Fantastic goals and big developments. It was all really good, but at the end, it is still a job to do.
"We are good so we have to be a good position. The problem, of course, started a few weeks ago when we had these injuries out of the blue. Three in one week doesn't help obviously in such a busy period and that's what you always try to prepare for over a whole season -- that in the decisive moment of the season you are in a really good moment.
"So if this team goes to the final it would be an outstanding -- outstanding -- achievement already.
"It is not the prize we want, then, because if you go to a final then, of course, you have to think a little bit bigger, but it would be something we could not have expected at the start of the season.
"We were not even qualified for the Champions League, we had to play a qualifier, and I don't know who else reached the semis having been a qualifier at the start. The boys really stepped up. They constantly saw the competition as an opportunity.
"Losing a player like Phil in the winter is big on the outside and I can say what I think and we tried to do something to sort it, but the decisive thing is what the boys think in that moment. They obviously missed him and they miss him still because he is a fantastic boy, but they stepped up and played football.
"There have been so many big, big developments this year and it is really good but still there is nothing in our hands -- not the Champions League final or even Champions League qualification.
"Two games to go and now we play Roma while Chelsea watch the game. Then we go to Chelsea and then Brighton at home -- still real jobs to do.
"Nothing we have done so far has put us in a position where we can relax and take a deep breath, it is just at the highest intensity constantly and the boys did fantastic."
Roma will have to overturn a three-goal deficit if they are to reach their first European Cup final since 1984 -- where they lost to Liverpool on penalties at the Stadio Olimpico.
Liverpool have surrendered a three-goal lead in the Champions League already this season when, in November, Sevilla scored three times after half-time to draw 3-3 in a group-stage match.
However, Klopp feels his side have developed considerably since that trip to Spain and have showed their ability to deal with adversity, particularly with an ever-growing injury list.
"These are things we have to prove again and again and again," he said. "Seville was not mentally weak, or whatever; that's football -- it can happen.
"It's not that we gave up and it was clear they would score these goals. It was a different game and an interesting game for us.
"I knew before that Seville is one of the most difficult places to go. I've never been to Rome so I cannot say too much about that but I'm sure it will be difficult as well.
"Of course, the boys are growing in these situations -- that's what you need as a player. You use experience. You don't take something out of the toolbox and say: 'That's the Champions League tool' or whatever.
"It's only we are more convinced about ourselves than we were before the season, that's 100 percent. That's why we are here. I don't think there's many teams in the semifinals at the moment that have the problems like we have.
"So, we did it our way, we came here with really good exciting football and I'm really happy about that. And now we want to continue that journey, of course.
"The group is outstanding. Outstanding. With how they deal with all the things that happened over the year, I could not ask for one percent more."
Liverpool have a chance to end a six-year trophy drought and earn the club its sixth European Cup crown and their first since 2005. Klopp says his players are very much aware of the need to achieve honours when playing for a club like Liverpool.
"From the first minute I came in you are confronted straight away by the history we had," he concluded.
"Did you ever hear a player who just signed a new contract not say: 'I want to win silverware'? They always say that because they have to say that.
"You cannot come to Liverpool and say: 'Obviously it's quite a comfortable situation so I'll have a few nice years of my career here'. We are Liverpool so somebody kicks our ass constantly.
It is 'make the next step, make the next step, make the next step.' It is not possible in this club to stand still.
"We need to deliver and the good news is we need players like Bobby [Roberto Firmino who recently signed a five-year contract], like all the others, and we have now a real group of players. I really think it is difficult to improve it a lot.
"I know which players you immediately think about when you talk about how we could be better because it is always the same, but find better ones who you know will react in certain situations. The guys on the other side of the fence always look a little bit nicer but we can be stronger.
"This team can still develop and we will bring in a few fresh legs as well because we need them for being on a high level constantly. A lot of things are really good, but you must not be afraid that players do not know their responsibility to be successful.
"In the end, there will be a team at Liverpool at one point that wins silverware and we all hope that we are involved in that."