London : Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp said on Friday that Real Madrid are the favourites and his team will try to win the Champions League final, scheduled to be held in Paris on May 28.
It will be the third meeting in the European Cup final between Liverpool and Real, with the Reds 1-0 winners in 1981 and beaten 3-1 in 2018.
“It will be great. We were not happy that night (in 2018), that’s clear, but it was a while ago. I’m happy to go there and give it a try, but until then, there are a lot of games to play and you will ask so many questions about Real Madrid between now and then, so I think we can stop here,” the coach added.
Speaking at his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference on Friday, Klopp said, “When we lost that final in 2018, actually my favourite solution would’ve been let’s play the final again next year and against Real Madrid, to be honest – that was in that moment. But we faced Tottenham, which was absolutely”fine.”
“It seems to be our destiny. It was strange and unlucky for (Manchester) City, but what Madrid did is outstanding. They got through against PSG, Chelsea and City. We said it before we played Villarreal, if you knock out Bayern you deserve to be in the semi-final — and if you knock out these three guys, then you definitely deserve to be in the final,” he said told Liverpool’s official website.
“They are now the massive favourites with all the experience they have and all these kinds of things. We are more experienced than we were, probably, but it’s obviously not to compare. A lot of players are still in for them and for us, which is a good sign as well,” he said.
Klopp has encouraged Liverpool fans to travel to Paris for their Champions League final with Real Madrid, even if they don’t have a ticket.
“Is it right that we only get 20,000, they get 20,000 and there’s 75,000 in? That makes 35,000 (leftover) what? Where are these tickets (going),” Klopp queried?
“The tickets are really expensive and I cannot be more appreciative or more thankful for what the people are doing.”
–IANS