Jurgen Klopp has sought to remove pressure from his own players and Liverpool will have to upset the odds if they are to beat Real Madrid and lift their seventh European Cup.
The Reds will face off against the record-breaking 13-times European champions in this month’s Champions League final at the Stade de France. On paper at least, Klopp’s side appear favourites to win the clash, which is a repeat of the 2018 final in Kyiv.
But Klopp thinks that due to Madrid’s astonishing recent record and experience in the competition, they go into the game as the “massive favourites”. Liverpool booked a place in their third final since 2018 after overcoming Villarreal in the semis, while Los Blancos outpunched Manchester City in a two-legged tie for the ages.
Mohamed Salah has already branded the upcoming game with Real as a chance to exact “revenge” after the LaLiga champions beat them at this stage four years ago. On that occasion, a Gareth Bale brace and a Karim Benzema strike earned them a 3-1 victory, with Salah forced off with a shoulder injury.
And while Klopp suggested he’s over that bitter defeat, he admitted that playing against Madrid may have been written in the stars: “When we lost that final, my favourite solution was to play the final again next year against Real Madrid, to be honest,” he explained. "But we faced Tottenham in Madrid, so Madrid seems to be our destiny.
“It was strange and unlucky for City, but what Madrid did was outstanding. They’ve got through against PSG, Chelsea and City. We said it before about Villarreal, if you knock out Juventus and Bayern you deserve to be in the semi-final and if you knock out those three guys then you definitely deserve to be in the final.
“They are now the massive favourites, all the experience they have and all these kinds of things. We are more experienced than we were, but that’s not to compare, a lot of players are still in for them and for us, which is a good sign. It will be great!”
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Between now and the May 28 final, Liverpool have a quartet of Premier League matches to decide the destination of the title and the small matter of an FA Cup final vs Chelsea at Wembley. With that in mind, Klopp was keen to point out that any preparations for Carlo Ancelotti’s side would only begin once their other commitments have been finalised.
The German added: “We weren’t happy that night, that’s clear, but it’s a while ago, I’m happy to go there and give it a try to be honest. But until then, there's a lot of games to play. You will ask lots of questions about Real Madrid between now and then, I think we can stop here.
“But what Carlo did there obviously is absolutely incredible and anyway, if you go to a final, it’s a good idea that you want to win it and that’s what we will work on in the week between the 22nd and 28th but not before then.”
