Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will be "really on fire" for the Champions League final as his side look to stop Real Madrid from...
Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will be "really on fire" for the Champions League final as his side look to stop Real Madrid from winning their third European Cup in a row.
Liverpool will participate in their eighth European Cup final later this month after emerging victors of their semifinal tie with Roma 7-6 on aggregate.
The Reds lost the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico 4-2 on Wednesday, but their advantage from last week's Anfield encounter helped book their place in the Kiev final on May 26.
They now have the opportunity to end their six-year trophy drought and record the first honour under Klopp's management, having lost in the finals of the League Cup and Europa League back in 2016.
Speaking at his postmatch news conference, Klopp said: "Look, we were in the League Cup final and we didn't win it. People don't tell me in the street since then: 'Thank you for bringing us to the final.' We were in the Europa League final.
"I didn't see any trophies after these games. They don't hang silver medals at Melwood. That's the pity, that's the game. So there's still a job to do but that's how it is. Going to a final is really nice -- I did it a few times -- but winning it is even nicer. We will be ready.
"You cannot be more experienced in the competition than Real Madrid. I think pretty much 80 percent of the team played all these finals -- four times in the last five years -- and they are still together.
"So if we talk about experience, they are experienced and we are not. But we will be really on fire, you can imagine.
"We are looking forward to it but before that we have to play two more Champions League semifinals in the Premier League. That is, first of all, the job to do. Then we'll have two weeks to prepare for the final and we will use that time."
In a frantic affair, Roma fought back and were one goal away from taking the tie to extra time after Radja Nainggolan netted an injury-time penalty.
"For both teams it would have been crazy to play extra time, two times 15 minutes. I have no clue how that would have happened!" Klopp continued. "That would have been really crazy.
"It was 7-6 on aggregate, which sounds crazy because it is crazy. We came into the competition as a qualifier and are now in the final. I'm really, really happy for the boys, really happy for the club, really happy for our fans.
"It was a fantastic ride so far and now we will go to Kiev, which sounds crazy -- but it's the truth."
In the buildup to the second leg, Klopp said he could not have predicted Liverpool reaching the final of the competition at the start of the season and then when Philippe Coutinho was sold to Barcelona in January.
However, the Liverpool manager revealed on Wednesday that although his team began their Champions League campaign as rank outsiders, he was confident that the style of play in the competition would suit his players.
"I was part of the Champions League a few times. You cannot plan a Champions League final if you are not Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich," Klopp said on Wednesday. "They are constantly in the last four; going there is not normal for them but much more normal than it is for us.
"We had to play in the qualifiers, we played Hoffenheim. But I knew that the competition and the football in the competition would suit us. It is not too bad for us, for sure. The boys still had to do the job.
"It was so difficult so far. We had two games against Hoffenheim; then we played a good group stage but we had to win the final game against [Spartak] Moscow. We won it quite impressively.
"Then we had Porto -- 5-0, it was strange. Then Manchester City, which was difficult. Then Roma; again, my biggest compliment to Roma and [Eusebio] Di Francesco: what a job. They are a really good football team, really good football.
"A lot of people talking about the English league being the best in the world and that's probably right, but what teams in Italian football at the moment. Juventus had Real Madrid at the edge and Roma had us at the edge. It is a really big compliment."
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