Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says his side hold no grudges with Real Madrid ahead of their Champions League encounter on Tuesday.
Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool are not on “a revenge tour” as they prepare to take on Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals this week.
The Reds arrived in the Spanish capital on Monday afternoon ahead of their much-anticipated clash against the reigning La Liga champions.
Much talk surrounding the build-up, centers around a 3-1 result when both sides met in the 2018 final of the competition. Real emerged as victors at the end of the day.
Sergio Ramos was the villain on that famous night but will not play on Tuesday due to injury. Regardless, both teams have blown hot and cold so far this term, making it rather difficult to tag either side as ‘favorites’.
Speaking at a press conference in Madrid on Monday evening, Klopp said as per Sky Sports: “We are not on a revenge tour here. I don’t believe too much in revenge, but it would be nice to get through, because it would mean we are in the next round!”
“My motivation is on the highest level because it’s the Champions League, we play Real Madrid and we want to go to the next round. It has nothing to do with 2018.”
“When we got the draw, of course I remembered the game because it was the first time we have played each other since.”
“I said after that [2018] game that if somebody asked me in a press conference a week later or a month later if I would invite Sergio Ramos to my 60th birthday, then I would say no! Meanwhile, I would think about it again. It’s not that he’s not a great footballer but I didn’t like what happened that night. It was a strange night for us, but it’s long ago and I cannot get that feeling, that anger, back.”
“I can only try to prepare my team to show tomorrow how good we are as a football team. It’s a strange season and a difficult season for us, but we want to show how good we are, and if we are better than Real Madrid and can score more goals, then we go to the next round. And if not then Real Madrid will.”
Speaking further, Klopp definitely believes Liverpool can claim a a big win over their continental rivals.
He added: “Our team is built for these kinds of games, when we face a football-playing side. That’s why we have a chance, absolutely.”
“I heard outside that everybody says Real Madrid is favorite. Great! No problem at all with that. They are used to the role, and we have no problem with the role of challenger.”
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