Lucas: Klopp will experience something special on Sunday
Lucas Leiva knows just how important games against Manchester United are and believes Sunday's Anfield clash will be another cultural lesson for manager Jürgen Klopp.
The Brazilian is a mainstay at the club and has featured in many fiercely-contested encounters with the Red Devils over the years.
And Lucas is sure Klopp, despite being new to the fixture between England’s most successful teams, has the pedigree to deal with the historic match effectively.
“It will be a new experience for him,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “But he’s got experience from the other games and from Borussia Dortmund, he played big games such as the Champions League final against Bayern, their big rivals.
“It will be a new experience for him but nothing he’s not used to. Knowing him a little bit from the last few months, he will be looking forward to the game as well.”
The midfielder finds it difficult to describe the occasion when playing in such a massive contest and what it takes to be successful on the day.
He added: “It’s not just about winning and playing well, these games are different. You always have to put something else more [in] and it’s hard to explain because you normally have to give everything you have always.
“But these games just feel different and that’s what I’ve learned from my years here. It’s always a special game and we know how much it means for the club and the fans.”
Lucas picks out the triumph at Old Trafford back in the 2008-09 season under Rafael Benitez as a particular favourite memory against United, though Anfield has witnessed many good results over their rivals in the recent past too.
“I think the 4-1 win is the stand-out game,” the 29-year-old admitted.
“Especially at home we’ve had some very good wins, the hat-trick of Dirk [Kuyt, in 2011], the game that Fernando [Torres] scored [in a 2-0 win back in 2009], we had some very good wins against Manchester United and I was part of a few of them.”