Konaté opens up after losing his father, returns to score as Liverpool beat Newcastle and climb to 5th in the Premier League.
On 1 Feb 2026 GMT+7, Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté spoke after last night's Premier League match where Liverpool comfortably beat Newcastle United 4-1 at home, marking his return to the "Reds" lineup.
Last week, Konaté had to return to his hometown in France to be with family after his father's death, missing the last three Liverpool matches before starting again in this game and scoring the final goal in stoppage time at 90+3 minutes.
This win brought Liverpool to 39 points, surpassing Manchester United who have 38 points, temporarily moving up to 5th place on the Premier League table.
Konaté opened up after helping Liverpool defeat Newcastle and scoring, saying, "I have no words to express how I feel 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 spoke to me by phone, telling me to recover slowly and not rush back."
"Given the situation with injured defenders, it was very important for me to come back and help the team. I did that today at Anfield. The atmosphere was fantastic, and this is what we want to continue until the end of the season."
"(Speaking about Florian Wirtz, who had one goal and one assist in this game) I'm very happy for him. He has shown the world his quality. He may not have reached his peak yet, but it is coming soon. We talked during preseason about what he could achieve, and if he reaches that level, it will be amazing."
"(On maintaining consistency in the league) We have to take it game by game. 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 committed for the upcoming matches."
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