The ghastly defeat in the 2018 UEFA Champions League final in Kyiv will not factor in as revenge mission for Liverpool FC as Jurgen Klopp’s men gear up to face Real Madrid in the last-eight of the continental tournament, says the Reds gaffer.
Klopp’s side had been edged out in the now-infamous clash nearly three summers ago with a horrid showing between the sticks from Loris Karius allowing Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid outfit to seal a 3-1 win in their favour and clinch the much-coveted trophy.
Ahead of the midweek clash in Spain, Klopp in his pre-match press conference played down talk of the German wanting his players to renew the rivalry against their last-eight opponents as the Liverpool FC boss insisted that motivation was high within the Anfield camp merely due to the intensity of the competition.
‘The motivation is the highest level because it’s Champions League, we want to go to the next round.
‘We play Real Madrid – that has nothing to do with 2018. But when I got the draw, because [it was] the first time that we played Real Madrid since then, of course I remembered the game.
‘I said it after the game that time, if somebody asked in a press conference a week later, maybe a month later, if I would invite Sergio Ramos to my 60th birthday, I would have said no. Meanwhile, I would think about it again because he’s a great footballer.’
‘But of course I said that I didn’t like what happened that night. It was for us a strange night but it’s completely normal. But it’s long ago and I cannot get that feeling back, that anger or whatever, so I don’t even try.
‘What I try is to prepare my team for tomorrow to show how good we are as a football team in a strange season obviously, in a difficult season for us. But we want to show how good we are.
‘And if we are better than Real Madrid or score more goals or whatever, then we go to the next round. And if not, then Real Madrid.
The forthcoming clash carries much weightage with both sides tipped for European glory in what remains of the ongoing campaign and with the Reds slowly but steadily returning to their very best on the pitch, Zidane’s in-form side are set to face a huge challenge on their own patch.
Liverpool FC clinched a third straight win on the trot last time around as a brace from Diogo Jota and Mohammad Salah’s strike ensured a 3-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
