No top-four flaws
KLOPP INSISTS: WE DESERVE A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT
JURGEN KLOPP goes into nail-biting Sunday adamant that his troops deserve to clinch that all-important top-four berth.
The German is used to last-day drama from his time in the Bundesliga and is relaxed about going into a game against Middlesbrough which will decide his Champions League fate.
He is not nervous – just bursting with pride and praise for a side which has sprinkled stardust in a season of high ambition and which he reckons deserves to finish with the golden reward of a place amongst Europe’s elite.
Klopp, asked if his players deserved to be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid for the way they have played this season, answered emphatically.
He said: “Yes, 100 per cent. This is a special season. It doesn’t happen too often that you need 76 points to be sure of the Champions League and so they were always ready, ready to bounce back in different situations.
“Ready to accept different situations around the squad. They were always focused. Yes, I think they really deserve it.
“But I have no influence on what makes Liverpool special compared to other places. That’s the history of Liverpool. I really feel one difference here at Melwood because I don’t have a normal life.
“I don’t go out and ask people how they feel. I only know the people here and I feel the difference.
“We still have this unbelievably powerful club behind us and now we have the circumstances to use this again.
“Our owners are really supportive. We have a good team already.
“There is still space for improvement. We have good coaches and we did a lot of good things around the team.
“We are happy. We think we have a situation now where we can be more successful in the future. It’s a long season, a hard season. But we are not tired.
“We are really full of energy and that’s what I really hope we can use on Sunday.”
Klopp knows there could be final-day drama but he has not been used to anything else in a manic, magical managerial reign.
He added: “Have a look at my career. My seasons always went to the last match.
“I would like to change it but obviously it was part of my life. I’m completely used to working until the last minute, being concentrated until the last minute. Most decisions are made in the last moment.
“The more you try, the bigger your desire is, the more likely it is you will have these kind of finals. For me it is a kind of a normal situation.”
The game will be Klopp’s 99th in charge as his first full season at Anfield comes to an end.
And the German is in a healthy position, heartened by the support he gets from Liverpool’s American owners who themselves have deep faith in their manager with a six-year deal in his pocket from last July. He said: “Do I have their backing? Again, 100 per cent. They showed that in the moment they offered me a new contract.
“There was absolutely no need for it now but they thought this is now perfect for the development.
“And that’s what we are all thinking, we’re all believing. That’s the situation.
“Of course, they’re completely independent. Their thoughts are completely independent.
“We all think we would feel much better if we win on Sunday. But I have said a few times that I’m a really lucky guy because I never had pressure from the owners.
“So I cannot really say how it would be in another situation. I have always had really good support from all my bosses in the past too.
“But nobody should be in any doubt that I have pressure. I have had pressure in my own life and pressure because I’ve played football since I’m five and I want to win each game.”