Juergen Klopp pumps Liverpool up ahead of Benfica clash

Liverpool’s goal is to become a team nobody wants to face, manager Juergen Klopp said on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Benfica at Anfield.

Liverpool lead 3-1 after victory in Lisbon last week and Klopp’s side are in a rich vein of form having lost only once in their last 22 games in all competitions, winning 18 times.

“We were good in Benfica, I liked the game. The main target is again being the one team no-one wants to play,” Klopp told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s clash.

“Really aggressive in a football sense, defending well, knowing more about the way they play.”

The English League Cup winners have what Klopp described as a “super intense” schedule and are on track for an unprecedented haul of four trophies this season.

Liverpool are second in the Premier League, trailing leaders Manchester City by a point, and have also reached the semifinals of the FA Cup.

Klopp added his team selection would not be made with one eye on Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against City, with whom they drew 2-2 in the league on Sunday.

“The next game has no influence on the line-up for tomorrow but the last game has so we have to see,” Klopp said. “There is nobody injured as far as I know but we need to look at who is fresh enough for this game.

“We see it as a super important game to us. We tried so hard last year to qualify for the Champions League and now we can make it to semis, which is incredible.”

Klopp said the game will be as tricky as their last-16 second leg against Inter Milan, when they lost 1-0 after a 2-0 win in the first leg.

“A good basis [3-1 lead]. But if they score one, like we felt against Inter, the game changes,” Klopp said. “We felt it when they scored last week. We really need to make them feel this is a place they don’t want to go.”

Reuters