JURGEN KLOPP was in ‘competition mood’ at Monday’s media conference ahead of Liverpool’s crunch Champions League clash with Salzburg, taking exception to a translator’s response in German.
The Reds require a point from Tuesday’s trip to Salzburg to guarantee a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, a competition they won last season with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham.
Klopp was unhappy with how his compatriot translated Jordan Henderson’s answer in front of the assembled media, taking particular issue with the translator’s assertion that the Liverpool captain said his team would “go easy in this game”.
Liverpool boss Klopp said: “It’s s**t when next to the translator sits a coach who speaks German. The question was if the Champions League title from the last year helps us because we have always delivered in situations like this.
He [Henderson] doesn’t talk about going easy in this game. We are aware of this challenge. He is speaking about all this normal stuff. You should really listen. Otherwise, I can do it by myself. It’s not too difficult.”
Switching to English, he then told the media: “I am in a competition mood already, I can tell you.”
Klopp will surely hope his side show the same fight in Salzburg, with a loss putting their knockout hopes at risk, as the Austrians would climb above them leaving Napoli only needed a draw to eliminate the Reds.
Liverpool were also close to elimination from the group stage of last season’s Champions League when paired with Napoli, with Alisson making a stoppage time save to deny Arkadiusz Milik a goal that would sent Klopp’s side crashing out.
The Reds then comfortably progressed past Bayern Munich and Porto in the first two knockout stages before their incredible semi-final victory over Barcelona.
Having lost the first leg 3-0 at Camp Nou, Liverpool completed a remarkable comeback in the return match to win 4-0 at Anfield and qualify for the competition final against Spurs.
Mohamed Salah’s second-minute penalty gave the Reds a lead over Mauricio Pochettino’s side before Divock Origi sealed the win three minutes from time.
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