Press conferenceWhy Jürgen Klopp wants LFC to be 'really uncomfortable' for Real Madrid
Jürgen Klopp wants Liverpool to be a ‘really uncomfortable opponent’ for Real Madrid in Saturday night’s Champions League final.
The sides meet at Stade de France in a rematch of the 2018 showpiece, with Klopp’s Reds seeking a third trophy of the season and the club’s seventh European Cup triumph.
Shortly after the squad touched down in Paris on Friday, the manager previewed the game during a press conference inside the stadium.
Read a summary of what Klopp told reporters about the requirements against Real, the form of Sadio Mane, how Liverpool will approach the contest and much more…
On whether a victory on Saturday would feel sweeter than 2019 because it’s against Real…
I have no idea how it will feel if we win it, to be honest. You have to ask me that question after the game. In the moment, we are more in the mood to prepare that we can give them a real game, a proper fight. Yes, you are right, it’s the most decorated club. It’s a team where some players can win it a fifth time, it’s a team where the manager can win it a fourth time. That all says a lot obviously. We cannot buy this experience now or get it overnight. We feel, if not the same experience, but we are experienced meanwhile as well – we are here the third time in five years, that’s special as well. No, the only thing we are thinking about is how to prepare the game, how to play the game. I didn’t think for a second how it would feel if, because I’m patient enough to wait for that moment and tell you then.
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On using the intensity of Mohamed Salah’s desire to put things right…
Nobody has to worry about Mo and that he takes it too much. It’s completely normal. For him it was a very special situation [in 2018]. We all lost that day but he got injured early in the game; he is now in a very good shape, he was then in a very good shape so it feels for him different. You ask him, that’s a normal feeling. We all get motivated by different things. I have here 26, 27 players and they all get motivated by different things. That’s completely fine and I have no problem with that. The only thing is if that’s the only motivation, but that’s not the case in Mo’s case that it’s the only motivation he has. But it’s normal that he wants to put things right. We want to put things right. We didn’t forget what happened that time, it’s just a while ago and we cannot come here and tomorrow I show the movie of that game and it’s enough motivation for the game, that makes no sense. We have so many reasons that we give our absolute everything tomorrow night and this might be one reason but not the reason.
On the condition of the pitch at Stade de France…
Yeah, usually when you say the pitch looks new that’s good news. This pitch is new since yesterday, that’s obviously not the best news. But for both teams. I have no idea how it will be now out there on the pitch but we will do a completely normal session that we planned to do. It’s not a lot obviously in this moment of the season. I saw the refs a bit with their session, the good news is the ball drops normal, that’s helpful. You can see the lines where they put the different pieces of the pitch in; that’s obviously not probably what we are all used to. But, again, that’s not a problem because the good news is both teams play on this pitch. That somebody thought it’s a good idea to bring the pitch the day before the game into the stadium, that’s an interesting idea, to be honest. It didn’t kill my mood for a per cent. I’m really happy that we are here. Now we are here and we play the game and that’s it. As long as both teams have the same circumstances, I’m fine with it.
On Mane’s mindset coming into the final, and Naby Keita having ‘his most consistent season’…
Sadio is in the shape of his life, for sure. He is in brilliant shape, it’s a joy to watch him in the moment in training and the game. We ask him a lot; football asks him a lot this year. He had an incredibly long season, a lot of finals and these kinds of things. That’s for sure so far one of the most successful as well, for him and for us. The Bayern Munich rumours, I couldn’t care less in the moment. We are all fully focused on this game. Sadio is completely focused on the game, he knows exactly how important it is to him and how important it is to us. So, no concerns, completely normal. It’s not the first time in my career that before decisive games Bayern Munich rumours [are] coming up. I don’t know exactly what I did that that happens. But no problem at all.
Naby, you’re right, how it is for all of us – especially for players more than for me – it’s important that we can train consistently and play consistently. That’s possible when you are not injured and that’s what happened to Naby this year. He is in a perfect age, he is more and more experienced. After the adaptation from the beginning when Naby came here, that’s the normal period when you arrive at Liverpool, or when you arrive in my team, that you usually need time to adapt. In this area especially in midfield, Fabinho needed that time and these kinds of things. The problem was, after Naby adapted he got injured, or in that time already, and that’s not helpful. Now he is as well in the shape of his life, I would say, played a really good season for us, an incredibly important player. That’s it.
On whether the condition of the pitch could affect the game as a spectacle and what lifting the trophy again would mean for this group of players…
Two different questions, let’s start with the pitch. I think both teams are technical teams and you would wish in a dreamland that the pitch is the best you ever saw in your life. That’s obviously not the case. You will hear the same from Carlo [Ancelotti, after Real train]. Yes, definitely if you win then you don’t care about the pitch, that is easy to say. I don’t know how bad it is or how good it is, to be honest, because I only saw it now. The referees were training on it, I saw the ball bouncing [and] that is good news. Now we will train on it and maybe it’s perfect and just looks not perfect, we will see that. That’s it. I hope nobody made a story, ‘Klopp is moaning about the pitch’ because I am not. I am not, it is fine. When you see it you think it could look different but let’s get a feeling for it. That’s very important. Usually these kind of sessions are more for the media because you want us to be here, we have to be here, UEFA tells us to be here. Today I am really happy that we are here because we can now feel it and can pass a few balls and we will see.
[It would mean] a lot, of course. That’s the world of sports, that’s the world we are living in, we get judged by the final result. I think if you are a football person then you know what my boys did so far this season is absolutely exceptional, but of course in the end it’s all measured by the colour of the medal you get after a game. That’s how it is and we are fine with that, we are ready for that, but history will tell us what people say about us because of these kind of games. I am more than happy and very proud of what we did so far. It’s pretty special. A lot of games, a lot of finals, a lot of tight, close decisions like penalty shootouts, stuff like this. There might be people out there who think, ‘They only won in penalty shootouts.’ Believe me, after 120 minutes playing Chelsea then being ready still for the penalty shootout is one of the most difficult things you can imagine. From my point of view I will feel better if we win the game, definitely, much better and that, in the moment, is the only thing I’m concerned about: how we can make sure that will happen.
On what has changed in his team since the 2018 final and how that will help on Saturday…
In the world out there, whatever you do, you have to gain experience. So, on the first day when you do a job it’s not that you say, ‘Oh my God, that was the best day in my life and I knew everything that I had to do.’ But then from there you go and maybe you have your first little success here, little things you achieve there and then all of a sudden you are on a big stage and you have to deliver. We delivered that night but the circumstances hit us and we couldn’t react and we couldn’t react because it was a long season as well that time, when we arrived pretty much on three wheels. I think we didn’t have a full bench, I am not 100 per cent sure but maybe we could not fill the bench completely. But players came back from injuries, key players came back from injuries, and then what happened to Mo happened and the goals we conceded happened. Our goalie had a concussion – I know nobody thinks about that but he had a concussion, it was proven afterwards, not during. And so things happened.
So it was important and you have to learn to win. You have to. You can wait for that and everybody tells you, ‘You have to do it now, you have to do it now.’ But I said it a couple of times, I had to learn it the hard way. Thankfully the last few we could win and we all had to learn that and this team learned it. The problem what we have now is that we face a team that never lost a final. Once in my life someone told me the more often you win something the more likely it gets you will not win it anymore – I’m not sure Real Madrid thinks like that but I have that dream a little bit, that it’s the case. The boys developed in the last few years enormously. The club is in a good place, everybody is connected, all these kinds of things. We know we are part of a big club, a massive club and meanwhile the boys are exactly the right players for this big club, people saw that slightly different when I arrived. So we are in a good moment and we are ready for this final and ’18 was important but ’19 was more important. So, let’s see what we can do.
On whether winning the Champions League would increase Mane’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or...
When you think about how these kind of competitions are won, then probably yes. You are either Ronaldo, Messi or you won the Champions League final. I think that’s the way you do it. That’s how it was in the last few years. So, yes, it would increase the chance, definitely.
On whether Liverpool will approach the game in their ‘normal way’ or will try to ‘surprise’ Real...
So, if I would do now something surprising for my players, for example, then they could think I’m nervous; if I pull now a rabbit out of the hat and these kind of things. I believe when you do the right stuff all the time then it is the right thing to do in the final as well. But, it has to be on the highest level possible. We obviously played some really, really good stuff this season, we are not here by surprise or we got a ticket or something like that – we deserved it as well. So, being us on the highest level would be cool. If we could do that then, as I said, we are a really uncomfortable opponent. A really uncomfortable opponent. That’s what we have to be. We can talk about what Real Madrid achieved in the past and this season, how good their players are, we probably could write a book together now about this team. But we are good as well and that’s what we want to show.
On whether the game ‘has any special significance beyond football’...
Until you asked me now, I was only concerned about the game, to be 100 per cent honest. I sit here in the press conference and I am not sure if you expect a political message from me now. I am happy that the game is here [in Paris] for thousands of reasons. The war is still going on, you are right, and we have to think about that. Let’s see it like this, that the game still happens and is not in St Petersburg maybe is exactly the right message which Russia should get. Life goes on, even when you try to destroy it. We play this final for all the people, not only but as well, in Ukraine. I am pretty sure there are some who can watch it and we do it for you as well, 100 per cent.