CHOMPIONS LEAGUE
Klopp tells stars: Stand up to Atleti or they will EAT you
JURGEN KLOPP has warned his Liverpool stars they’ll need to be brave to avoid being swallowed up by Atletico Madrid in a football war tonight.
The Reds take on the Spanish champions in a clash between Group B’s big guns in Madrid.
It is the first of back-to-back meetings with Diego Simeone’s side which could decide who goes through as group winners.
The teams last met at the last-16 stage of the Champions League just before the pandemic halted the world.
That time Simeone’s side outsmarted the Reds over two legs as they snuck through 4-2 on aggregate after extra-time at Anfield and the Spaniard’s style of play irritated the Liverpool manager.
Klopp’s men will have to battle to unlock the defensively robust Spaniards again and the Reds boss knows the challenge that awaits.
When asked if it is a football war, Klopp said: “It is.
“The problem with Atletico is the quality they have and the desire they show.
“Would it be the style I wanted to play? No. I couldn’t, I’m not the person for it, but we are all different and that is why it is fine.”
“We will face it. You have to play a top-class game and be incredibly brave. If you don’t do that they eat you.” Liverpool will have an in-form Mo Salah at their disposal but there remains the issue over his contract, which has less than two years to run.
Asked whether Salah’s form will make resolving his contract issue easier or harder, Klopp said: “I don’t know. We will see.”
One man whose future is certain to be at Anfield for beyond two years is Virgil van Dijk as he committed himself to the club in the summer.
Yesterday marked 12 months since the former Celtic star received the diagnosis that he would need serious surgery on an ACL injury suffered in last October’s Merseyside derby.
But his return this season has boosted the Reds in all sorts of ways.
“I’m still on the way,” said Van Dijk. “I know there are a lot of eyes pointing in my direction, wondering ‘is he going to be back in the same way’ and stuff, but the only thing I can do is try my best each and every game. That’s what I do.”
Were you thinking of anyone in particular, Jurgen?