Burning Red with desire
Robin Hood and Rocky Bilbao help Klopp’s passion shine
LiverpooL: A confessed admirer of the underdog tales of Robin Hood and Rocky Balboa, Juergen Klopp (pic) is probably uncomfortable with Liverpool’s status as strong favourites in the Champions League semi-final first-leg match against Roma.
However, it is testament to how far the German has revitalised a sleeping giant on the European stage that Liverpool’s first appearance in the Champions League last four for a decade is met with such expectation.
It hasn’t always been a such a smooth ride since Klopp arrived an Anfield two-and-a-half years ago.
Indeed, even in the aftermath of a 5-1 quarter-final thrashing of hitherto tournament favourites Manchester City, Klopp warned the clock was ticking on his promise to deliver a trophy within four years of taking charge.
Early in his reign Klopp at times bemoaned the subdued atmosphere in modern English grounds, even at the mythical Anfield, compared to his grounding in Germany’s Bundesliga.
By contrast, Anfield will be at fever pitch today to try and inspire the five-time European champions back to club’s football’s biggest game in the Kiev final on May 26.
“The Champions League nights are special for the fans too,” Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah – who has scored an incredible 41 goals in his debut season for the club – told CNN. “You can feel it on the streets.
“The atmosphere in that first game against Man City was the first time I had really seen something like that.”
Premier League champions City’s evisceration by a three-goal blitz in 19 first-half minutes was just another chapter in a long history of famous European nights at Anfield.
“The Liverpool fans, they all believe ‘this is our competition’,” recognised City boss Pep Guardiola afterwards.
But it came on the back of a rallying cry by Klopp for his players not to be intimidated by Liverpool’s history in the competition, but to make memories they too will be remembered for.
Liverpool’s high-energy style that even City couldn’t cope with is a mirror image of their manager on the touchline.
“If something is important to me, I cannot hide my feelings. When I’m happy everyone can see and it’s the same when I’m angry,” Klopp told The Big Interview podcast.
However, Klopp’s revival of Liverpool has come from far more than rabble rousing. His fluid 4-3-3 system has brought the best out of a prolific front three of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who have combined for 83 goals this season.
“I think Juergen is a master to buy players with what he really needs for the way he wants to play,” said Guardiola, who has suffered more defeats in his career to Klopp than any other manager.
Most impressively of all, Klopp’s management has also ensured that Liverpool’s flurry of goals hasn’t dried up despite losing Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £142mil (RM774mil) in January and not buying a natural replacement.
Instead just over half of that fee was spent on Virgil van Dijk to bolster a defence that often let Klopp down in his first two years in England.
Since the £75mil (RM409mil) Dutchman was recruited, Liverpool have conceded just once in four European outings.
Klopp has also learned from his own mistakes. The intensity of his demands left Liverpool drained in the second-half of last season after a promising start to the campaign.
This season no manager has rotated more than Klopp in the Premier League with the payoff that his side remain the sole English representatives in the last four.
Liverpool are the only unbeaten team in the Champions League this season. They are also the competition’s top-scoring team with 33 goals, five coming against Manchester City in the quarterfinals. Yet Roma are full of confidence after a stunning 3-0 victory over Barcelona that saw the team reach the semi-finals on away goals. Can Juergen Klopp’s (left) men pierce through the Romans’ armour, or will Eusebio Di Francesco’s men demolish the Anfield fortress in the semi-final first-leg tie today?