Beaming Klopp’s grin it to win it as he shrugs off pressure with a laugh a minute
JURGEN KLOPP was all smiles ahead of yet another career-defining game.
That is the Liverpool manager’s style, to brush everything off with a joke or a clever quip. And he was in playful mood yesterday, laughing at the notion that losing his last six finals was a factor and a weight on his shoulders.
This is, without doubt, the biggest game of his career (at least since last year) and the Reds now have the chance to win a sixth European Cup on a night when legends are made. No one remembers the losers.
Klopp was anxious to take the pressure off his players and put it all on his own shoulders, going off on a tangent to answer about his record in finals – even though that was not the question.
He is ready to head everything off with that big toothy grin. He does not need reminding that he has lost six finals in a row. But the only way to answer is on the pitch with victory over Tottenham. So, when Klopp was asked what had Liverpool learned from last year’s defeat in the Champions League Final to Real Madrid, his answer went in a different direction.
“I thought about what questions there would be today because I have spoken about everything else,” smiled Klopp. “If I was the reason for losing six finals in a row then everybody needs to worry.
“What I learned from last year? That a bicycle kick from 18 metres Damir Skomina (Slovenia) can be a goal as well. From the other finals? Nothing really.
“The circumstances are always different, you come with a different team. If I was the reason for losing six in a row, then everyone needs to worry – but if it’s not the case, then we have a chance.”
No one can dispute the job Klopp has done in just under four years at Anfield, but if his reign is to be remembered as a great one then he will have to win a trophy.
He enjoyed playing to the audience in the vast auditorium in Live on BT Sport 2 from 6pm the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, but what happens on the pitch is all that really counts.
Klopp has built a brilliant, attacking team, but so far they have been world class at coming second. Runners-up in the best Premier League season of all and losers in all three of the finals Liverpool have reached under him.
If they lose this final, one where Liverpool are supposed to be clear favourites, then it really will become a complex and that is what Klopp is desperate to avoid by putting it all on himself.
Klopp is a brilliant showman, flashing his grin and, in the open training session, looking relaxed, trying to give off the impression that he does not have a care in the world. He is fun, enjoying his life and yet still craves success to mark himself down as a great manager.
This is his third Champions League Final and it offers the chance for immortality, to turn his reign from being impressive into a different territory altogether. So, when he was asked whether he was a lucky manager, Klopp replied: “Do you think I have an unlucky career? I don’t have an unlucky career. My missus always asks when is the last game of the season as there is a chance if it is the Champions League Final, I will be involved.
“Since 2012, apart from 2017, I’ve been every year in a final – I am probably the world-record holder in winning semi-finals. If I would write a book about doing that, probably nobody would buy it!
“I am a normal human being so if I would sit down in a room and think it’s all about me, I’m the reason, then I would see myself as a loser and it would be a problem.
“The rest, all of that about winning and losing, is for the outside world. If we win, you will all think afterwards that I am a winner. But that’s not interesting to me.”
Klopp is a perfect fit for Liverpool as he embraces the culture of the club and the fans.
But victory in Madrid will mark him down as one of the all-time greats in some already illustrious company.