Jurgen: Euro crown will pip Pep’s Prem reign

JURGEN KLOPP has taunted Manchester City by insisting being crowned Kings of Europe would top being Premier League champions.

Liverpool are aiming to conquer holders Real Madrid to become European champions in Ukraine’s capital Kiev on May 26.

Pep Guardiola’s men are the runaway Premier League champions with 93 points and three games left.

They are also a whopping 21 points ahead of Liverpool, who still need to avoid defeat at Chelsea tomorrow to confirm their top-four place for next season.

But Reds boss Klopp reckons the excitement of the biggest final in club football means they are in a better position than quarterfinal opponents City.

He said: “There are not a lot of teams in world football where their season is already done. For example, City are champions and still play football chasing records.

“They have these long weeks now with training, recovery and always being fresh.

“But I wouldn’t change it at the moment, to be honest, as we’re going to Kiev. Life in the Premier League doesn’t always feel like a holiday.”

Liverpool are seeking to make it back-to-back top-four finishes for the first time since 2009.

And Klopp reckons achieving that would put the Merseysiders in the best place for a decade, especially as they are without the injured Emre Can, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana and Joe Gomez.

He added: “It would be massive. If we do it, it would show everything, but it’s still an if. I don’t like the word ‘would’ too much.

“Let’s talk about it when it happens. We have to play games to make that happen.

“It was actually the main target we had at the start of the season.

“With the group we’ve got, with how we came to the final and playing with the biggest intensity in all parts, being ready again, then the injuries we had, it would be a massive success.

“It’s exactly what we want. You cannot plan for a Champions League Final obviously.

“Nobody thought about that at the start of the season.

“Of course we wanted to go as far as possible but my main target was getting into the top four.

“We’ve worked hard for that and now we want to bring it over the line.”

Liverpool expect to have German midfielder Can available next week.

He should receive the green light to resume full training on Monday after suffering a back injury against Watford on March 17.

Klopp added: “He’s done a lot of things and it feels really good, but you always need a doctor to tell you, ‘Now it’s fine, now you can go again’. That would be good news for us.”