Liverpool - Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday the club's current squad was the best he had worked with during his time in charge, but it was the players' attitude and spirit that really set them apart.
Goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, putting them in a commanding position ahead of next month's return leg.
"The quality and the potential of the boys was not the key for the win at Inter, the key was the attitude and the spirit we created on the pitch," Klopp told reporters.
"My opinion is clear: top squad, best I ever had, but it is more important what kind of mood is in the team.
"You don't win a Champions League away game against Inter Milan because you are good. You win it because you want it with all you have and that's what we did."
Liverpool brought on five substitutes against Inter, including goalscorer Firmino, but Klopp stressed that the ability to make five changes instead of the three permitted in the Premier League did not give top teams an advantage.
"I can't believe it is still discussed like this," he said. "It is the reason why in this country it is still not five subs.
"In pretty much all the other countries it is the case. It doesn't make Bayern Munich 20 points ahead of other teams or in Italy all of a sudden the better teams are running away with it.
"In this country we hide behind the fact that: 'It helps them, I can't see how it helps us.'"
Second-placed Liverpool can shrink the gap between themselves and leaders Manchester City to six points with a win over Norwich City on Saturday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)