Diogo Jota has jokingly shared his relief that Liverpool are unlikely to face Real Madrid in Europe this season.
The Portuguese joined the Reds from Wolves in the summer of 2020, and has been knocked out of the Champions League by the Spanish giants in each of his three seasons with the club. While Jurgen Klopp’s men lost in the final to Real Madrid in 2022, they suffered quarter-final and round-of-16 exits at their hand in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
Liverpool ultimately struggled across the board last season as they failed to finish in the top four for the first time since 2015/16, though an 11-game unbeaten run to finish the campaign at least saw them recover enough to finish fifth and qualify for the Europa League.
And while Jota concedes playing in the tournament is a ‘downgrade’, the forward has set his sights on winning the competition.
READ MORE: Liverpool move quickly as Manchester United left unhappy with public transfer saga
“I played in the Europa League before with Wolves,” he told FourFourTwo. “Although the fans are used to playing in the Champions League every single year and it will feel like a downgrade, it’s still a prestigious competition. We’ll give our best to win it.
“They (Real Madrid) can somehow finish third in their group and still be in our way. Since I came to Liverpool, I’ve always got knocked out by Real Madrid, so hopefully they’re not there!”
In an injury-plagued campaign, which saw him miss the World Cup in Qatar, Jota ultimately went over a year without scoring for Liverpool. But a return to form saw him return seven goals from the Reds’ final nine games of the season to ultimately help Klopp’s side qualify for the Europa League.
And while not overly superstitious, Jota has put such a streak down to a change of boots, having doomed Adidas’ new orange X Speedportal footwear for the first time when breaking his duck with a brace against Leeds United.
“I never scored with the previous boots and it’s a psychological thing if you’re a striker – ‘Maybe it’s the boots I need to change’,” he said. “Then you score and everything feels fine.
“They’re just tools, but when you look at them, they give you different feelings.
“I try not to (be superstitious), because it gives you a lot of work to have everything always the same. Then, if one of those things doesn’t happen for whatever reason, you’re already 1-0 down.
“But if the boots feel nice and you’re scoring... I remember Karim Benzema wearing the same ones – it’s hard to argue when you’re scoring.”
