BARCELONA (AFP) - Jurgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool are ready to end Lionel Messi's Champions League mission by beating Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Messi has been rested for Barca's last two league games and appears more motivated than ever in Europe, after pledging to "bring that beautiful cup back to Nou Camp " at the start of the season.
But Klopp has warned his players not to focus only on the Argentinian.
"It's not only about Messi but of course it's about him as well," Klopp said at a press conference on Tuesday (April 30).
"Can we concentrate on Messi? We should in a lot of moments but if we only concentrate on him, there are 10 other world-class players who can decide the game as well.
"Messi said before the season, 'we want to bring back that cup'. That sounds like a threat to me. Now we did it, now we are here and all I can say is we want to go to the final as well."
Barcelona play Liverpool in the first leg on Wednesday, four days after celebrating winning the Spanish LaLiga on Saturday. With a Spanish King's Cup final this month against Valencia to come, it means a treble is in their sights.
Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic said: "Leo has been a LaLiga champion 10 times in 15 years and of course, after seeing him lift the cup (on Saturday) with such happiness, that motivates everyone.
"If Leo is happy to win every title, it makes us even more eager too. We know we're Barca, we have to give everything and following the best player in history gives us more confidence to do that."
Liverpool hope to have their own striker back in time for the first leg, after Roberto Firmino trained after recovering from a muscle strain.
"If he is 100 per cent ready to play he will maybe play," Klopp said. "He is here. Tomorrow we have another session."
Messi is likely to be flanked by two former Liverpool players, with Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho expected to start in an attacking three.
But while Suarez has flourished in Spain, Coutinho has struggled to find his feet since joining Barca for €120 million (S$183 million) in January last year.
"We miss Phil Coutinho a lot because he is a world-class player and I loved working with him," Klopp said. "When I first heard he wanted to go to Barcelona I couldn't imagine it would be good. But we had to deal without him and we did well."
Barcelona have not lost at home in the Champions League since 2013 while the last English opponents to beat them on their own turf was Liverpool in 2007.
"A draw would not be the worst result in the world, not that we would go for it but it would be okay," Klopp said.
"It would mean a lot to win. It's difficult, so many teams came here with an idea to do this or that and they got a big knock. But we saw the game against Real Sociedad and they did well. Levante did well a couple of days ago. But the better the opposition is, the higher the stakes are, and the more they are engaged.
"Now they are champions, they can completely focus on the Champions League."
Liverpool have lost only once in the Premier League this term and are still fighting with Manchester City to win the title.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino already boast 68 goals this season between them.
"We need to stop them running at our defence," Rakitic said. "We are going to try to score but we mustn't lose our heads."
"We know in these ties one good game is not enough, you need to play two great games," coach Ernesto Valverde said. "If you switch off for five minutes against Liverpool, they can finish you off."
Football: Jurgen Klopp fires up Liverpool with 'It's only pain' motto, Pep Guardiola urges City to 'be precise' 0:0 Comments Swimming: Toh Wei Soong finds inner strength to win first gold medal for Singapore at World Series 0:0 Comments Tennis: Halep beats Bencic to reach fourth Madrid Open final 0:0 Comments
Stefanos Tsitsipas stays perfect at ATP Next Gen Finals in
sportstoft.com/tennis/stefanos-tsitsipas-stays-perfect-at-atp-next-gen-finals-in-milan/
Stefanos Tsitsipas won the battle of the big guns as the Greek superstar proved too good for Frances Tiafoe to stay unbeaten at the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan.
Champions League final: Jurgen Klopp reveals Pep Guardiola
UK Rescuers Launch Bid To Recover Body From Emiliano Sala's Plane British crash investigators on Tuesday launched an underwater operation to recover a body from the wreckage of the plane
UK rescuers attempting to recover body from Sala's plane
Southampton stay up after thrilling 3-3 draw with Bournemouth
The Bankruptcy Means Test. Among other things involved in the bankruptcy process, before you can file a Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, you will have to take a means test.The means test identifies those debtors who have the financial capacity to pay a significant portion of their bills to creditors.
List of retailers affected by the retail apocalypse - Wikipedia
Liverpool held at Everton to surrender top spot in Premier League Liverpool were left to regret two huge missed chances by Mohamed Salah as Everton held out for a 0-0 draw in the Merseyside
Liverpool held at Everton to surrender top spot in Premier
Manchester United will look to entertain at Wembley as they face their toughest test since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's appointment against Spurs. United will attack Spurs, vows Lingard | FourFourTwo
Champions League: Solskjaer promises to attack PSG - Sportstar
SHOOTING STARS midfielder Muchineripi Muneri has been arrested as part of investigations into allegations that some Dynamos players could have been paid to throw away their final match of the
Mar 08, 2019 · According to US Soccer's own financial disclosures, the women's team brought in more revenue than their male counterparts over the last three years, and their victory in the 2015 World Cup
The Best Women's Soccer Team in the World Fights for Equal
Football: Jorginho fires Chelsea as recalled Kepa shines
U.S. businesses optimistic on China growth, bemoan unfair treatment January 30, 2018 | BEIJING (OnNewsToday) - U.S. companies are more confident China will further open up to foreign investment in coming years, a top business lobby said on Tuesday, but it cautioned that an "astounding" three-quarters of its members do not feel welcomed by
China-US Trade Ties: US businesses optimistic on China growth
Cesar Luis Menotti Named Director Of Argentina National Teams
Cristiano Ronaldo responds as Virgil van Dijk emerges as favourite for Ballon d'Or. Cristiano Ronaldo came up against Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as Portugal beat Holland in the UEFA
Atletico spoil Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Madrid Juve's
Barca put one hand on title after edging past Sociedad Sociedad had given Barca an early fright in the corresponding fixture back in September before losing out and the Basques again held
Football: Barca put one hand on title after edging past
Football: Newcastle get extra-time win over Blackburn, Stoke fall to Shrewsbury in FA Cup 3rd-round replays
Newcastle United get extra-time win, Stoke City fall to
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen