Klopp: “We Are Here to Compete”

Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Perhaps, it’ll end in confetti and a trophy lift this time around.

Ahead of Liverpool FC’s first game in the Europa League against LASK in Austria, manager Jürgen Klopp was in a reflective mood, recalling the previous time the Reds were in the competition (2015/16). He promised that the team was here to compete for the trophy, and not merely to rotate his squad.

“We are here to compete, not to give opportunities.”

“My first year I thought the Europa League was a bit too much for us until we got to the final.”

“I don’t think we were exceptional until the quarter-final, semi-final.”

“It is a different time, a different team. We are better prepared. We enjoy it more to be here because we had no clue at that time what to expect.”

“We have to be motivated and we are excited to play in the Europa League.”

Captain Virgil van Dijk chimed in on Liverpool being deemed favourites to win the competition and urged for a more level-headed approach:

“It’s a reflection of the world we live in at the moment, it’s from one extreme to the other.”

“We have to just stay calm and level-headed, there are so many games to play and twists and turns to happen.”

“Everyone else from the outside world will say things but we should not worry and think about it.”

Up the Thursday Night Reds!