Klopp: Today I saw friends but tomorrow is only football
Jürgen Klopp previewed Liverpool's Europa League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night at a press conference inside the Bundesliga club's stadium this evening – here is a selection of key points from the manager.
On being back at Signal Iduna Park…
We were lucky to get here a bit early so that gave me 20 minutes or so to catch up with some old friends. Of course, there a lot of people I know here and I think it would have been a bit daft not to have that chance. Tomorrow is different, tomorrow is the game – we’ll come here focused on that and make our way straight to the dressing room. Tomorrow is about football; but today was a chance to have some private time.
On knowing Dortmund’s players…
It’s not really a crucial factor. My players are not expecting me to give them a detailed breakdown of every single Dortmund player, and whether they turn to the left or the right… or through the middle. Obviously we have looked at the way Dortmund play and looked at their game, and we have seen their development. They play attractive football. But we haven’t travelled here without any hope we’ll get a result tomorrow. There’ll be moments in the game when we get our chances, those will come. Everybody has said, we have said, that Borussia Dortmund are favourites in this competition. I don’t think anybody really disagrees with that, and that’s understandable given they are having a great season. They are potentially German champions, potentially cup winners and in the Europa League – they could make an historic treble. But tomorrow is the Europa League and that’s what we’re concerned with.
On the winners of the tie being favourites for the trophy…
I don’t think we are favourites to win the title in this moment. But if we beat Borussia Dortmund then we have won against the strongest team in the competition and maybe we become something like the favourites. But it depends who the other teams still in the competition are. I don’t think in these categories, it’s not important for tomorrow. We had a lot of good moments in our season but we didn’t get all the benefit from it, especially in the table. We had a few really good moments and if we have a good moment tomorrow night, then it’s a real challenge for both teams. If we are not good tomorrow then it will be easy for Borussia Dortmund. But why should I think about this? And why should I think about the next round? We have the highest mountain to climb – Borussia Dortmund. But it’s possible, it’s absolutely possible and that’s all we need. So let’s play football and talk about it afterwards. It’s a real challenge, hopefully for both sides.
On the Europa League helping Liverpool’s league form…
We had a few results that didn’t help us too much in climbing the table. That’s how it is. We have had not too different form in the Europa League and the Premier League. But up until now we haven’t lost a game in the Europa League. Borussia Dortmund played against Tottenham in the last round and it was not too easy, [before then] Porto were not too easy. But we had Augsburg and everybody saw this game, that it’s not too easy. And Manchester United is one of the biggest games with the biggest pressure in England. So we are prepared for this game and that’s all you have to know. You need a little bit of luck. I heard Borussia Dortmund trained with the full squad; only Neven Subotic is out, but he didn’t play too often. Ilkay Gundogan is back, Mats Hummels is back, and not only back but they rested at the weekend.
Nobody in my squad really rested at the weekend – they had to play and we have to play on Sunday against Stoke. It’s our problem. We need to use the moment tomorrow night and there will be a few moments. If there’s one little advantage for us then everybody here knows that the way Borussia Dortmund started a few years ago was by beating favourites. It’s not important to sit here and know about who is the better team or something like this; it’s football so a lot of things can happen, especially in this stadium. We have to really do our best and we have to play top, top, top level football. Only then we have a chance. But if we are good, as good as we can be, then it’s a tight match and that’s what we want to have.