Jürgen Klopp: We've prepared for Porto response - now we have to show it

The Reds hold a two-goal lead from last week’s first-leg encounter at Anfield, when strikes from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino sealed victory.

However, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday evening, Klopp explained why no-one within the Reds camp is underestimating the threat The Dragons will pose, particularly with a lively home crowd pushing them on.

Read on for a summary of what the manager had to say when he addressed journalists at the Estadio do Dragao in his media briefing, or watch it in full in our YouTube video below...

On Porto boss Sergio Conceicao saying ‘sometimes, Liverpool are the best team in the world’…

When was that? What did he say, exactly? We are the best team in the world sometimes? Sometimes we are really good, that’s true, and hopefully we can show it again. Maybe I can understand a little bit why he says that because there are moments after we win the ball, or moments before we win the ball, or moments when the boys do some things, then it looks really, really good, that’s the truth, but that’s pretty much all. This is a compliment, but we still know we have a really tough job to do tomorrow – and probably he said that as well, that he still believes in their chances. Did he say that? Yes, OK, then it’s all good.

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On the spirit within the Liverpool squad and the mini-competitions among players to get the highest tallies…

It’s nice to have these kind of very positive stories, it’s really nice, but it is normal that in a successful team you have these stories. The boys like each other a lot, there is a good atmosphere in the team, but it is completely normal. I don’t think Sadio and Mo really have a competition [to see who can score more ] – they just want to score, as often as possible. With Robbo and Trent I know it is slightly different, but they are probably most surprised they have so many assists already – before the season, a lot of people wouldn’t have thought that, so that’s cool. So far it is a very positive season, that’s why we are here, but we are not here to celebrate our situation, we are actually here to go to the next round because the season is not finished. In this competition, we have to fight really hard. Porto won all of their home games so far. I know we were really dominant in the home game, but not only because they will get at least two players back, but because the atmosphere in the stadium will be more Porto-dominated. They will try to have a kick-start in the game, immediately being in, so that’s what I think about and not how good our season was until now because that’s something you can really think about after the season, not now.

On how Liverpool will approach the tie…

I am sorry, sometimes it is really strange, but there is one football question I don’t answer. It’s really not nice, but what we do tomorrow we show on the pitch and not in the press conference.

On whether winning at the Estadio do Dragao 5-0 last year will have any benefits for the squad…

Not really. I said before the last game [first leg] it was really strange. The first goal was really good, but in the end, Sadio has had harder shots on target that have not gone in and that one was in. The second goal was really good play, a fantastic shot from Millie and then Mo finished it off from the post. A top goal. Then three counter-attacking goals, which were really, really good. Until we were 2-0 up – and even after being 2-0 up – it was a completely open game. You don’t remember things like this, we only face the result. We know, and I saw it in the first game, my players are not silly and they don’t misunderstand things like this. Porto are a really, really good football team. We were really good in the first leg and we have to be really good tomorrow again. We have to play really at our rhythm at 100 per cent and not try to come through somehow because you cannot then stand the power they can create here. I was here for a derby, Porto against Lisbon, years and years ago – I am sure in Germany we only have derbies in Germany and in England we think we only have derbies in England, but then you come to Portugal and you see that derby and it’s loud as well. They are really big games and they – the crowd - know how to influence a game, they know how to influence an opponent, so we have to be ready for this atmosphere – and that’s what we have to try.

On what Porto showed in turning around the result against AS Roma in the last round…

What we’ve created in the three-and-a-half years since I’ve been in is that the boys believe I tell them the truth in the analysis. I don’t make teams bigger than they are, I don’t make them smaller than they are. The analysis for us is really on point, which is what we want. That’s why there is no risk that we have to convince the boys again and say, ‘By the way, Porto are really good’ because we know it already. We had the analysis meeting this morning, we were sitting together for 45 minutes around about, talking about this team. Only part of it was about the first game, the other part was the second leg against Roma when they played here. We’ve played Roma and they can be really uncomfortable as an opponent, but I didn’t see a real chance for them that night - Porto was really in charge of that game and that was good. We should be prepared but we still have to play.

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On the collective journey Liverpool players and supporters have made in Europe over recent seasons…

Actually, I thought about that when I was walking from the plane to the bus at the airport. Really, I thought that it is unbelievable that we are here again all together. It’s really brilliant, it’s unbelievable, the trip, the journey we made with each other in the last couple of years – it’s really amazing. It’s one of the best songs we have, ‘We’ve conquered all of Europe…’ – obviously we don’t conquer really, but sometimes we are at least there and play football. It is brilliant – thank you to all of you, it is unbelievable. It is unbelievable.