Jurgen Klopp discussed Man City‘s Champions League exit, Roberto Firmino‘s fitness, UEFA’s ticketing and Luis Diaz ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham.
Here are five key things from Klopp’s pre-Tottenham press conference on Friday…
Will Man City bounce back?
While Liverpool booked their spot in the Champions League final on Tuesday, the following evening saw Man City collapse after holding a 5-3 aggregate lead over Real Madrid.
Rodrygo struck twice in the 90th minute to take the semi-final to extra time, with Karim Benzema then netting a penalty to knock City out.
Klopp was asked about whether he felt it could impact City’s title charge and insisted they are “too good” for that to be the case.
“With all the things we know about City I would rather think [not]. They are too good and these kinds of things,” he said.
“Yes, it was a massive blow, I think everybody was ready to switch the television off then all of a sudden part two started.
“That was really harsh, I can imagine. I had nights like this, it’s not cool; next morning it’s not enjoyable.”
Don’t call it a revenge mission!
With Real setting up a rematch of the 2018 final, Mohamed Salah has been vocal in his desire for “revenge” after the events of Kyiv.
While Klopp himself admitted that we wanted Real in the final, he was eager to avoid the word revenge.
“When we lost that final, actually my favourite solution was to play the final next year against Real Madrid,” he said.
“We faced Tottenham which was absolutely fine – in Madrid!
“But it seems to be our destiny.”
Klopp added: “It will be great. That we were not happy that night, that’s clear, but it was a while ago.”
Bobby is back, but…
On Thursday, Firmino returned to full training for the first time in almost three weeks, but Klopp suggested the No. 9 would not feature against Spurs.
“It might be possible that it makes more sense just to train through the weekend and then be a big step closer for Tuesday, for example,” he said.
“But let’s see. Yesterday he was in training, it was great.”
Diaz’s universal language
With Liverpool facing a 2-0 deficit at half-time in the second leg at Villarreal in midweek, levelling the tie at 2-2 on aggregate, Klopp sent on his No. 23.
Diaz made the impact supporters had hoped for, turning the game on its head and pushing Liverpool to a 3-2 victory on the night.
The Colombian, in Klopp’s words, has made an “unbelievable impact” since joining from Porto in January, with the manager particularly impressed given he barely speaks English.
“He communicates really with everybody without really speaking with the language,” Klopp explained.
“OK, we have the Spanish faction, but it’s no problem. They are really close, they helped him so much – Thiago, Fab, Ali, Bobby, all these guys, Adrian is great in these aspects.
“He’s really close with Curtis, he’s really close with Harvey – I have no idea how they talk, to be honest!
“He’s really close, just on an emotional basis they are [connected], and they were after a week. It’s really strange, but it’s up to him.”
Only 20,000 tickets?!
With a place in the Champions League final comes the inevitable disappointment over Liverpool’s ticket allocation – with only 19,618 available from a possible 75,000.
“Is it right that we get only 20,000, they get only 20,000, 75,000 in? That makes 35,000 what? Where are these tickets?!” Klopp asked.
He later added: “I really hope they can all make it somehow and can create – of course they will – an incredible atmosphere. It’s nice.
“So if you don’t get a ticket, I think Paris is big enough to go there without a ticket and have a good time, behave yourself but be in the best possible mood. It’s a great thing.
“If you cannot go there then watch it here, in any kind of surrounding it will be absolutely fantastic.”
