Liverpool's Nat Phillips has revealed Jurgen Klopp's congratulatory message on achieving promotion with Bournemouth was "a really nice surprise" while further reflecting on his Champions League exploits against Karim Benzema.
The defender has missed out on the Reds' latest run to the biggest club final in European football after spending the second half of the season on loan with the Cherries.
Phillips helped the club seal promotion back to the Premier League on the same night Liverpool secured their final berth against Real Madrid earlier this month - and he admitted the message from the German caught him unawares.
What did Phillips say on Klopp's message?
“It says a lot about him. It was a really nice surprise,” Phillips told the Liverpool Echo. “It shows what he’s like as a manager and what he’s like to work for and why he gets so much out of the players because that is how he’ll treat you as a player and as a person.
“At the end of my career, I’ll look back on it with a lot of pride, but from my side, especially since I left on loan, it’s been more watching from a distance, supporting from a distance and being happy for the guys, the players and the staff, and wishing success for them.
“His text message was initially just congratulating me on the promotion. Even that, I was surprised to receive that to be honest because I was aware he had a big game that evening.
"I was surprised that it had even crossed his mind that I had that game. It was really nice to hear and nice of him to say that. It’s something I can be proud of."
What did Phillips say on battling Benzema?
Elsewhere, Phillips also reflected on his role in Liverpool's Champions League exit to Madrid last term, when he helped claim a clean sheet in the second leg of the quarter-finals as the Reds failed to overturn a first leg loss, and in particular his battle with Karim Benzema.
"You had to be switched on constantly, you had to always be looking and tracking where he was. If you took your eye off him for a second, he could find space and finish. He did it a few times but it didn’t quite land for him.
"It was a real eye-opening experience for me, to see how high the level is with a striker like himself who can find a yard and lose himself from you in a split-second. I enjoyed the battle, I enjoyed playing against him and I enjoy testing myself against the best players."
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