Jurgen Klopp has contrasted the build-up Flamengo received to participating in the Club World Cup to Liverpool, who were told “stay at home and play the Carabao Cup” ahead of Saturday’s final at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
Klopp highlighted the difference in attitude to the competition in Europe compared with other regions, particularly South America, where it is lionised.
Liverpool overcame Mexico’s Monterrey 2-1 courtesy of a late goal from substitute Roberto Firmino on Wednesday night to set up a showdown with Copa Libertadores holders Flamengo. Klopp prioritised that semi-final over the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa, scheduled the day before, in which the youngest side in the club’s history were punished for their inexperience with a 5-0 defeat.
There were prominent voices suggesting the Premier League leaders should have fulfilled that fixture with their first team and sent their youngsters to Qatar instead, despite entry to the domestic competition being automatic every season while they can only qualify for the Club World Cup – a trophy that eludes them – by triumphing in the Champions League.
“It is not an advantage or disadvantage but the situations are different from Flamengo and us,” Klopp pointed out on Friday. “Flamengo got sent here with a clear order to win it and to come back as heroes, we got told stay at home and play the Carabao Cup. That is a massive difference.
“We cannot change that, but we are here and my team wants to win the competition even though we know it is very difficult because the other team is really good. The view in Europe is different to the rest of the world and I’d very much like to change that view. Will it change the view in Europe? Probably not.
“Liverpool fans want us to win, most of the other fans don’t really care. You could see how Monterrey fought in the two games they played here, how much they invested and it will be the same for Flamengo tomorrow with high quality in the team. For us, it feels really special. We sorted the sleeping issues, could train, rest the players in the right moment.
“We are here so we want to give it a proper try. You cannot do more, we could not do more before the Champions League final. We feel the tension in the situation but we feel it as a massive opportunity and we want to try it.”
Klopp did not want to show his hand regarding the availability of Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum, who sat out the semi-final due to illness and a muscle issue respectively.
“We will see,” he said. “Virgil was part of training today, Gini has had a session today so we will see how it will look at the end. We have no new injury concerns. It was Wednesday when we played and now it is Friday. We use each hour for recovery so that is what we did. We will see who can line up tomorrow.”
