NO KOP OUT
Klopp: We will never give up on Prem to concentrate on Europe
JURGEN KLOPP maintains Liverpool won’t give up in the Premier League to concentrate on Champions League glory.
The Reds trail leaders Manchester City by 22 points and now face a battle to finish in the top four.
But the Kop boss claims Liverpool’s responsibility to their fans means they can never throw in the towel.
And even though they have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-0 win against German club RB Leipzig, Klopp is not tempted to target Europe at the expense of the Premier League.
He said: “We play Fulham next then three days later Leipzig and we are not in the next round yet.
“So I can’t think of winning the Champions League in the sense that we still have to go through difficult rounds and this round is still difficult too.
“I don’t think that far ahead. We will see who we can field against Fulham and see who we can bring on in Wednesday’s game against
Leipzig.
Interested
“But it’s not because we have given up on the Premier League or whatever.
“That will never happen. There is no game we can play and lose with such a line-up.
Liverpool is too big and too many people are interested. We don’t play behind closed doors really without cameras so you just read the results in the news.
“We play in front of our people and we feel the responsibility. We feel that in each game that we have to give our absolute everything to win it.
“And when that doesn’t happen and people think it’s not enough, that doesn’t change our attitude.
“We try it again the next time.”
Covid rules mean it’s all back to Hungary to tackle Leipzig for a second time in Budapest’s Puskas Arena.
Before he joined Liverpool,
Klopp’s last season at Borussia Dortmund was filled with problems as the Bundesliga side slumped to a seventh-place finish after taking the runners-up slot the previous campaign.
But Klopp insists the crisis at Anfield this season is way worse than his troubled swansong with Dortmund.
Difference
“I had a situation at Dortmund after a very successful spell and then it’s not that easy,” he said.
“But it’s not even close, the situation.
“At Dortmund, it was not even half as bad, from an injury point of view, as it is here now.
“And we had much less points after the first part of the season.
“The difference was we had the injuries in the first part of the season but in the second part, they all came back.
“We had a winter break and I knew after the last game of the first part of the season, that when we came back all the injured players would be back – so it’s a completely different situation.
“Because pretty much nobody comes back here.
“And that’s not a problem, it’s just you can’t compare it.
“You have to find solutions. But it’s not that easy that I have a situation like this seven, eight years ago and I just take out the book where you wrote all the notes and have a look and say, ‘Ah, yeah, that’s what we can do.’
“The only thing we can do now is to work as hard as you can, fight as much as we can to play as good as you can to win football games. Because then that changes everything.”
We feel that responsibilty to our fans to give our absolute everything to win each game we play
PEP GUARDIOLA fears Manchester City’s Quadruple dream could be over in a flash if his stars are not careful.
Marauding City aim to extend their incredible 21-game winning run against cross-town rivals United in today’s Manchester derby at the Etihad.
But despite having huge admiration for the achievement of his players so far this season, Guardiola warns their prospects easily could take a dive.
Runaway
The runaway league leaders face a Carabao Cup final against Tottenham next month, are in the FA Cup quarter-finals and have one foot in the last eight of the Champions
League. But Guardiola said: “I told my players what we have done is incredible but only when we have won the title can we say we are champions, after the last game.
“Over the last two or three months I can say, ‘You have been incredible, guys,’ we were competing every time, the team, the club, the friendship has all been amazing. That’s what is incredible.
“But we are going to drop points, I’m pretty sure of that, and then the players will make a step forward and do it again and again.
“In football, in the Cup, in the Champions League, it can take one game and you are out. That has to be the warning, to be careful, keep your feet on the grass and move forward.
“I said to the guys recently that the only way to arrive at the best moment in the cups and the league is to be focused all the time. This is what we have to do. At the moment it is going well, everything is perfect and City is winning. But we could do the same and lose. That is the most important thing in world football. When everyone says something is going to happen, normally it doesn’t happen.”
Even though so far this season City have won nothing, Guardiola has enjoyed the ride.
Magnificent
“For sure, especially these three months,” he said. “Every night you sleep better, every day you train better. If you win it gives everyone confidence.
“The message you give to the players they get it immediately. When you lose you have to convince them more. So, yes, it helps.
“Nobody is going to take away these three months. No, I’m sorry these three months belong to us.
“It is magnificent what we have done, but we will wait and see the position at the end. Then the world will judge our performance.”