Klopp: "I hadn't seen the final in Paris again until this weekend, it was torture"

MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Liverpool coach, Jürgen Klopp, has acknowledged that he had "not" seen the Champions League final in Paris against Real Madrid again "until this weekend", whom they will face again this Tuesday in the match first leg of the round of 16 of the highest European competition, and has assured that it was "torture".

"It is one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the most successful clubs without a doubt, it has won this competition I don't know how many times. We played the final in Paris and I haven't seen it since then, until this weekend; now I know why. But I had to do it and it was torture," he said with a laugh at a press conference.

"We played a good game and we could have won, and that's the key word: we could. They scored the decisive goal and we didn't, that was the reason. You could see in that game how experienced Madrid is; they don't lose confidence not a second, they know that their opportunity will come, they are there for that and they defend together. This is this team and that is the competition in which you can learn from them", he continued.

However, the German coach stressed that this was "seven or eight months ago" and that now "different teams" will face each other. "It's the same clubs, but different teams and different times. In recent years, one of us was always in the final, and usually if you want to get to the final, you always have to kick us or them. This time we played between us, so let's see who happens", he said.

After two games behind closed doors at Anfield against the whites due to the coronavirus pandemic, the English venue will once again host a Liverpool-Real Madrid match with an audience in the stands. "I hope that helps tomorrow night and I know our people will give absolutely everything. I can't wait to play. But going to the Bernabéu is also difficult," he warned.

"It's the 'Champions' and it's one of the biggest games I've ever heard of. I'm very happy we can play now; four weeks ago it would have been different, but life is a matter of time and maybe we'll recover just in time for this match", he added in reference to the bad run of the team, stopped with two consecutive victories in the Premier League.

In this sense, he assured that they need to "play two super games to get through." "If you don't play the best you can, you don't have a chance. Real Madrid don't have to play their best because they still have a chance, that's the difference," he said. "We need results, there is no doubt. We were already in a similar situation, I'm not saying in terms of performance, but in terms of results, after the World Cup break. I think that with the two victories it seemed that we were already there," he warned, appealing to avoid relaxations.

In another order of things, Klopp was full of praise for Carlo Ancelotti, the "calmest" coach he has ever known and "one of the best people you can meet." "He is a fantastic person, humble, super smart and nice. His management of the players is on a completely different level from all of us and he respects him a lot, I admire him a lot," he said.

On the other hand, he assured that he expects a "super competitive" Real Madrid and that it will be difficult to surprise. "I don't think you can make this team panic," he stated. "If you win the competition like some of their players, who have won it five times, you probably think you own the tournament and you're probably right, but we still want to try," he said.

Finally, Klopp denied that he has a special plan to stop Vinícius. "You always try to deny them passes, but we have a problem: if you defend Vinícius correctly, Benzema arrives; if you defend Benzema well, there's Valverde, Rodrygo or whoever; if you defend all three, then Toni Kroos arrives and shoots from 25 meters , or Modric; Tchouaméni catches a ball and shoots from 25 meters or reaches the box and heads it. That's the way it happens with world-class teams: they have world-class players and you have to defend them collectively", he concluded.