IT’S ROUTE WIN!
Final glory is Klopp’s way back to big time
JURGEN KLOPP has vowed to go all- out to win the Europa League as he knows it is Liverpool’s best hope of returning to the big time. The homecoming of the Bundesliga-winning coach has been a huge story here and the packed media auditorium confirmed how much interest there is in Klopp returning to his native land, even if the man himself insisted it is no big deal.
With a trademark smile, he revealed the last time he was in Bavaria was for Oktoberfest and the thing he was most looking forward to last night was having the pretzels he finds impossible to get in England for dinner.
His joviality, however, disappeared when the talk returned to Liverpool’s targets for the remainder of the campaign.
Results, particularly in the Premier League, have been erratic and Liverpool find themselves nine points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, meaning their chance of returning to the Champions League via the league route is almost impossible.
When the subject of the Europa League was raised, though, his tone changed. Playing on a Thursday, then a Sunday, may make the blood of some Premier League managers run cold but Klopp has vowed to embrace it.
He will field a strong side this evening and continue to adopt that policy for as long as Liverpool remain in the competition. His ambition is to take them all the way to the final in Basle, Switzerland on May 18.
‘A few teams in the world can think about winning the Europa League and I think we are one of these teams,’ said Klopp. ‘We don’t have to say, “We have no chance”. But if you look at the teams in the competition now, it is like a little Champions League. There are a lot of high-quality teams in it. Sometimes you can look at winning a cup as the shortest way to get somewhere.
‘For sure, the Europa League is not the shortest way to get to the Champions League, it is a really hard race. The chance to qualify for the Champions League makes it more interesting — ask Sevilla, who would have qualified many times with this rule.
‘What can I say, we are in the last 32. We can see the line. But I cannot say now this is our only chance of being in the Champions League. It’s a chance. How many points in the league are we away from the Champions League? Nine.
‘So, yeah, I would say we have a better chance this [Europa League] way at the moment.
‘Maybe the top four [Premier League] clubs will have a crisis. But we have to solve our own problems. We have to be at the highest motivation for this game without thinking about the last moment and knowing the possibility.’
Those views were echoed by right back Nathaniel Clyne, who said: ‘We are looking to win as many games as we can. We know Augsburg will be difficult but we want to get into the next round and keep winning so that we reach the final. It would be great if we could win that cup. We know it offers a route to the Champions League and we are taking it seriously.’
Augsburg have endured a difficult season in the Bundesliga — they are currently 14th and only one point above the relegation zone — but that will not preevent them attacking ing Liverpool and Klopp pp is very aware that theyhey will want to claim a bigig scalp scalp, given that the locals are calling it the biggest game in their history.
‘I am sure that’s how it should be,’ said Klopp. ‘ Even if I wasn’t here and Augsburg play against Liverpool, it is still the biggest game in their history. But still, they played against Bayern Munich in their last game and a few years ago they were the European champions. Of course, they played against them a few times last season so it’s not that big any more and now we come the first time.
‘I don’t think there is extra motivation because I am there. I have never had a problem with their players or something like this. ‘But it is a special situation because it’s Europa League and it’s a small club that can earn a lot of money. For a club like Augsburg the competition is the biggest money they can get in Europe. Th The Champions League is far away — they don’tdo have a real chanc chance. ‘ So these clubs wan want to go for the Eu Europa League an and no-one would ever ask them ha question li like, “Don’t you th think it’s better to go out of Europe pean football and con concentrate on the l league?”. ‘May ‘Maybe in this case when you have 21 points a and are in a difficult situations you could say “Yes” “Yes”. But from outside you will not see this at the game. They will fight for their life, for sure, because for them it is an absolute highlight. I’ve played a lot of times against them, and that makes the preparation easier, but that is all. In the end, they will fight for everything.’