LIVERPOOL MANAGER JURGEN Klopp has retracted his invitation to Liverpool fans to travel to the Europa League final in Basel even if they do not have tickets.
After his side booked a showpiece meeting against Sevilla by beating Villarreal at Anfield on Thursday, Klopp urged as many Liverpool supporters as possible to travel: “Basel has a wonderful stadium and is a wonderful city. It’s worth going there even if you don’t have a ticket.”
But following Liverpool’s 2-0 Premier League win at home against Watford on Sunday — Joe Allen and Roberto Firmino with the goals — Klopp took back his previous statement in an impassioned plea at the start of his press conference.
“Last time I spoke about Basel, I spoke like a supporter. I invited all Liverpool fans to Basel – that was not too smart, to be honest,” the German said. “Basel is a nice city but it is not ready for us — it was my mistake. I have to take back the invitation.
“Please only people with tickets go there, because everything else would be chaos and we don’t want this. We have to concentrate on football. If you cannot be there, stay at home or come to Liverpool, watch the game with your friends and let’s have a party afterwards.
“So that’s really, really, really necessary now that you listen. Most of the time you can ignore what I say, but now it’s really important. We have to send just the team plus 10,000. The rest, all over the world, can enjoy the game with best friends and family.”
Liverpool had released a statement earlier on Sunday, pleading with fans without tickets for the game not to travel to the Swiss city.
The club said: “Liverpool has fans all over the world and the club wants to make them aware that the surrounding infrastructure in Basle is only set up for match attendees. Transport will be restricted and all local accommodation is sold out.”
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