Konaté opens up after his father's passing, returns to score as Liverpool beats Newcastle to move up to 5th in the Premier League.
On 1 Feb 2026 GMT+7, Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté spoke after last night's Premier League game, where Liverpool comfortably defeated Newcastle United 4-1 at home, marking his return to the "Reds" lineup.
Last week, Ibrahima Konaté returned to his hometown in France to be with family after his father's death, missing Liverpool's last three matches before starting today’s game and scoring the final goal in stoppage time at 90+3 minutes.
This win brought Liverpool’s total to 39 points, overtaking Manchester United who have 38 points, moving temporarily into 5th place in the Premier League standings.
Ibrahima Konaté opened up after helping Liverpool beat Newcastle and scoring, saying, "I have no words to describe my feelings right now because the past two weeks have been very difficult for me and my family."
"But this is part of life. It’s hard to accept, and we have no choice. I knew the team had many injured players, and the manager called me to tell me to recover slowly and not rush back."
"In this situation (injuries in defense), it was very important for me to return and help the team. I was able to do that today at Anfield. The atmosphere was fantastic, and this is what we want to maintain until the end of the season."
"(Speaking about Florian Wirtz who scored and assisted in this game) I’m very happy for him. He has shown the world his quality. He may not be at his peak yet, but it’s coming soon. We talked in preseason about what he can achieve, and if he reaches that level, it will be amazing."
"(On maintaining consistency in the league) We have to take it one game at a time. For me, we are always the best team on the pitch, but sometimes we concede too many goals or don’t score enough. Today we did very well, and we must stay focused for the upcoming matches."