Liverpool Chasing the Quadruple
Klopp can’t even think of Guardiola
04/13/2022 11:53 am
After the spectacular Premier League summit, Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp have to solve their international tasks. They will see each other again on Saturday. But the Liverpool coach has other concerns. He warns of what will happen once Benfica ‘scores a goal’.
Jürgen Klopp deliberately ignored thoughts of Pep Guardiola and the next “heavyweight fight”. “The only game I can think of is against Benfica,” said the Liverpool manager ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg (9 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de). Between two cracker duels against Manchester City, Klopp did not want the Portuguese to be understood as a sparring partner.
“It’s as tricky as a 2-0,” he said of the 3-1 lead from the first leg in Lisbon: “A good basis. If they score a goal, we saw it against Inter, the game changes.” Liverpool had already led 2-0 after the first duel against Inter Milan in the round of 16, but only narrowly progressed after a 0-1 defeat in the second leg.
Much more delicate is the task for Guardiola and City on Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) at the concrete mixers of Atlético Madrid, who “only” lost the first leg in Manchester 1-0 and thrive when it comes to everything. According to the Catalan, his team is fit. Defense chief Ruben Dias is back after a hamstring injury and the dream of a handle pot covers up the general exhaustion. “We are so close to the semi-finals, we can lose because we perform poorly or because the opponent is better,” said Guardiola, “but we are not tired.”
“They don’t only play against us”
In this phase of the season every mistake is crucial, every game a final. “We see it as a very important game for us,” Klopp said of the duel with Benfica: “Last year we tried so hard to qualify for the Champions League and now we can make it to the semi-finals, which is incredible .” Liverpool are still chasing the quadruple having already won the League Cup.
In the Premier League, the gap to City remained at one point after last Sunday’s spectacular 2-2 and also in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday (4.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) Klopp has to get past Guardiola. Given the strain, Benfica are on the move, with Liverpool’s luxury squad offering plenty of world-class options. “The next game doesn’t affect tomorrow’s line-up,” said Klopp, “but the last game did, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Benfica can definitely be a stumbling block on the road to eternal glory, Klopp never tired of emphasizing that. After all, Lisbon put the Reds under pressure in the first leg after the 1-2 goal in the meantime. Klopp wants to counteract the spectator factor: “I’m sure during the game (the first leg, editor’s note) they thought: ‘That was quite good, we were close.’ But now the bad news for Benfica: It’s Anfield. They’re not just playing us. They’re playing the whole crowd.”