Klopp's verdict on Europa League tie with Villarreal
After Liverpool were paired with Villarreal in Friday's Europa League semi-final draw, Jürgen Klopp made the necessary initial plans and then put the tie completely out of his mind.
The Reds will face the La Liga side over two legs to decide a place in the final, with the opening match to be played in Spain on Thursday April 28 before the return at Anfield a week later.
Klopp’s instant reaction to the news was to put scouting of Villarreal into motion – and then nothing else, with the manager eager to focus on the three league games ahead first.
He said: “I don’t think about Villarreal in this moment. When we knew about the draw, we spoke about a few organisational things – who will watch them and when.
“Of course, that’s what you have to do. But when it’s over and organised, you have all the other things. And there are three games – Bournemouth, Everton and Newcastle – and then we go to Villarreal.
“So there’s a long way to go. And we have no idea who is available for the Villarreal game, so we need to think about what’s important tomorrow.
“It’s not about dreaming of the Champions League or the final – we have not played one minute in the semi-final, how could we do that?
“Villarreal are not there because all the other opponents could not play football. It’s completely different, they are unbelievably strong. Hopefully everybody knows about this when we go there.
“It’s not a problem. It’s a nice opportunity to have these two games. But before this, we have to do a few other things.”
Watch the manager's pre-Bournemouth press conference in full