Klopp keeps tight rein on prize dreams
• Liverpool’s first Champions League semi in a decade
Jurgen Klopp admits the clock is ticking on his target of winning a trophy within the first four years of his Liverpool tenure, but after eliminating Manchester City he says he dare not dream that it will be the Champions League.
The 50-year-old German refuses to contemplate a sixth European crown for the historic club even after they beat the runaway Premier League leaders 5-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinal to reach their first Champions League semifinal for a decade.
In his first season, Klopp guided Liverpool to the 2016 Europa League final in which they lost to Sevilla, but he is now contemplating a leap upwards in terms of quality of opposition.
“I said [at his unveiling as Liverpool manager] if I sit here in four years probably we [have] won something, otherwise it’s not possible,” Klopp said after the 2-1 second-leg victory over Pep Guardiola’s team on Tuesday.
“It’s two-and-a-half years and I still haven’t won anything, so time is running,” he said.
Klopp, who guided Borussia Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final in which they lost to German rivals Bayern Munich, said it was far too early to claim Liverpool could be the equals of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Bayern and Real are potential semifinal opponents (should they have come through their quarterfinals unscathed on Wednesday) and a huge obstacle to all the teams’ chances of lifting the trophy was removed on Tuesday with AS Roma’s miraculous dismantling of Barcelona.
“I have absolutely no interest in comparing us. Barca, Bayern, Real Madrid they win everything in the past 20 years,” said Klopp. “You don’t become a winner overnight,” he said.
Liverpool do of course have a rich Champions League history, most recently with their unlikely comeback in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul, although the Italians gained revenge in the final two years later.
Klopp said his side was still a work in progress. His gamble in paying a world record fee for a defender to acquire Virgil van Dijk has been a step in that direction. The Dutchman has added defensive solidity.
“We can only develop,” said Klopp. “This competition is unbelievably strong.
“I don’t care who is in [the draw]. We are there and we deserved it and so far we fought for each opportunity to get it and then used it.
“That’s what we will do [in the semis], but the other sides are not without their ambitions.”
The laid-back side of Klopp is reflected in how he felt he would have preferred to have watched the match.
“You cannot imagine how much intensity you feel before a game like this,” he said. “Everybody wrote me a message: ‘I will watch the game here, there, I’ll have a beer together with friends’. I would really like to do that as well sometimes, drink beer and watch a Champions League game. Unfortunately it is all work.”
Come May 26 in Kiev he may at last be able to down a beer or three should Liverpool fulfil his personal ambition and restore the term European giants to their name.