Having not featured for Liverpool since sustaining a back injury in mid-March, Emre Can’s return to training means the midfielder is in contention for a place in the matchday squad.
“He’s a nice option and that’s why he is with us,” the manager explained to Liverpoolfc.com on board the flight to Kiev, while also confirming that James Milner is fully fit again.
As injuries mounted for the Reds in the final weeks of the season and they balanced their European adventure with Premier League commitments, Klopp was unable to make significant changes to his team.
But with Adam Lallana another notable returnee with several weeks of training under his belt, the boss expects to name the strongest substitutes’ bench for ‘weeks or months’.
“We are as fresh as we can be after this two weeks; fitness will not be an issue,” the German told reporters at his pre-match press conference inside the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
It is a similar story for Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
The ankle injury suffered by Cristiano Ronaldo against FC Barcelona earlier this month has fully cleared, leaving the Frenchman with the luxury of a selection headache.
“Cristiano is good, if he’s not at 150 per cent, he’s at 140 per cent and that’s not bad! Tomorrow it’s the last game of the season – he lives to play games like this,” said Zidane at his own media briefing on Friday.
On the difficulty of selecting a XI, he continued: “I have to take decisions. All our players are good players and there’ll be a lot left out and on the bench.
“We think as a team. A player can be disappointed, but when the game starts, he’s with the team and we need to continue to do that. We’re a squad, a group.”