Jürgen Klopp says losing in the Champions League final should not reduce Liverpool’s “special season”, but acknowledged that his side should blame themselves for the loss to Real Madrid.

Thibaut Courtois made an extraordinary appearance to deny the goal to Liverpool and Mohamed Salah in particular several times, after the club’s dreams from Anfield for a seventh European crown vanished in Paris.

Klopp refused to blame a 63rd game of the season as the cause, but opposed Liverpool’s failure to beat the former Chelsea goalkeeper.

“They scored a goal and we did not. It’s hard to accept, but we have to respect that. I congratulate Madrid and have personally congratulated their president abroad. When a goalkeeper is the player of the match, something is not clear to the other team. We had three really big occasions when Courtois made extraordinary receptions. I would have loved more of them. In the third we could have done better. Madrid had a shot on goal and scored. We had nine and could not score. This is the difference. We had 24 hits and I remember Courtois making three world-class receptions. “With our quality we can cause more problems,” said Klopp.

Liverpool end a season that carried the hopes of quadrupling with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. But despite losing the biggest prizes, their manager insisted he was proud of the campaign.

“I am just proud. I told the boys this in the dressing room, but it was clear I was the only one feeling it. The boys will need more time. They played an extraordinary season. The two competitions we did not win were by the narrowest possible margin – one point from City in the Premier League and one goal against Real Madrid in the Champions League. “It does not mean anything to us,” said Jurgen Klopp.