Jurgen Klopp has said that we will not cancel our International Champions Cup obligations, even if we are forced to play in the third qualifying round of the 2016/17 Europa League.
We are currently scheduled to play Chelsea and AC Milan on 27th and 30th July respectively.
If we finish 6th or 7th in the Premier League, we could face a qualifying match less than 24 hours after the Chelsea match.
Klopp, however, is unconcerned.
“I am really happy with the plan [for pre-season],” he said (via Echo).
“It’s complicated of course because we don’t know yet about Europe and whether there are any qualifiers.
“But in the end we had to make a decision. And the decision is that if we are in these qualifiers then we will have to fly back from the USA.
“It’s a long flight but we can’t change this. If we have to fly back – no problem.”
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The situation is further complicated by the European Championships (10th June – 10th July), the Copa America (3rd June – 26th June), and the Olympics (4th August – 20th August). It is expected that we’ll have players in all three competitions.
“We will have to wait and see who is available as there are so many other tournaments,” Klopp said.
“The only thing we could do is make a plan for pre-season and that’s what we have done.
“We don’t know yet exactly who will be involved in the European Championships. Then we have the Olympics and the Copa America. So many different tournaments and we know nothing yet about which of our players will be there. That’s a problem.
“We made a plan for us and then we will need to react as things happen. That’s the only thing we could do.
“It’s not too easy to make a plan like this. But now we’ve made it, we feel good.
“If we have to play in a qualifier then we will fly back with a team. With which team? I don’t know in this moment.”