Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants to build on the respect his side earned in reaching last season’s Champions League final
© AFP Glyn KIRK
LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom, Sep 18 – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side shouldn’t be scared of any side as they look to go one step further in the Champions League after reaching the final last season.
The visit of Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield on Tuesday gives Klopp’s men an early chance to show their run to the final in Kiev was no fluke, particularly after a summer of what already appears shrewd business in the transfer market.
Liverpool have won all five of their opening Premier League games after spending a then-world record fee for a goalkeeper on Alisson Becker, bolstering their midfield options in Naby Keita and Fabinho and adding extra back up to a prolific front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane with Xherdan Shaqiri.
“The players we spoke to in the summer or a little earlier, they were different talks to those I had the previous year or before,” said Klopp, who has transformed Liverpool’s fortunes in just under three years in charge.
“In the moment, it is a different club to the club I joined when I came in.
“We are in the place where we want to be without being satisfied with anything. We are a challenger and we are a challenger again for pretty much everything, especially in each game.
“I don’t think there is any game in the world where you would say beforehand, ‘No chance Liverpool,’ which is good.”
Liverpool upset Premier League champions Manchester City and scored five against Porto and Roma on their way to the final before losing to Real Madrid, which Klopp believes has restored some of the fear factor of going to Anfield on a European night.
“I think we got a lot of respect because of the way we played last season and I think everyone who saw the final saw that we could have won it against a side in a completely different moment,” he added.
“They see the games we played. They saw City, they saw Rome, they saw Porto. They saw so many games which we played in a really good way. There was a lot of respect.
“The best way is when you are experienced you use your new knowledge and start again, like a virgin if you want.”
