Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has played down the ‘all or nothing’ nature of his side’s tie with Middlesbrough on Sunday, which will define whether we’re playing Champions League or Europa League football next term, while debating Bayern Munich’s chances of Premier League success!
The manager was speaking with German outlet Kicker, and his interview has been translated by Goal.
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A win guarantees us top four and possibly third depending on Manchester City’s result, while anything less means Arsenal could overtake us with a victory against Everton.
Klopp though thinks we’ve had a good season regardless of the weekend’s results, claiming even perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich would struggle to win the English top flight.
“It would not be easy for Bayern to win the Premier League. But their chances to win it are not that low,” he began.
“We would be very disappointed, if we did not qualify for the Champions League…
“But to call the Europa League failure, which we are qualified for already, is not my view.
“Inside the club, people see the development, which is very positive. We’ve got 73 points and the chance to move on to 76. This shows that we play a very stable season.”
We understand why Klopp is trying to take pressure from his players’ shoulders, but in reality, the importance of the Anfield tie is obvious. A win enables us to target top quality players in the summer; the type of which will only come to a club in the Champions League. We can put Virgil Van Dijk, Douglas Costa, Julian Brandt and Naby Keita in this category – while the likes of Andrew Robertson and Michael Keane will still come regardless…
But if we can’t beat a relegated ‘Boro on the final day of the season, perhaps we don’t deserve Champions League football anyway…