Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he’ll ‘take’ Europa League football next season, even if it wasn’t the objective at the start of the current campaign.
The Reds’ recent winning run has given them a faint chance of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League for the seventh year running.
However, with a gap of seven points to fourth-placed Manchester United – who have a game in hand – a place in Europe’s premier club competition for 2023/24 still seems a tall order for the Merseysiders.
Speaking in his press conference this morning ahead of Sunday’s clash against fifth-placed Tottenham, Klopp said (via Paul Gorst on Twitter): “We take what we get (for European qualification). We would not have said Europa League would be fantastic achievement at the start of the season.
“We want to create the basis to squeeze everything out. We have to be really focused for the game coming up.”
Klopp: "We take what we get (for European qualification). We would not have said Europa League would be fantastic achievement at the start of the season. We want to create the basis to squeeze everything out. We have to be really focused for the game coming up."
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) April 28, 2023
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp issues timely triple injury boost ahead of Tottenham clash
READ MORE: Liverpool fans could see new feature appearing close to Anfield in next few months
Anything less than fourth place would be Liverpool’s worst finish in their seven full seasons under Klopp, so failing to qualify for the Champions League would have to be deemed a disappointment.
However, considering where the Reds were a month ago, securing fifth place and a Europa League berth after a strong finish to the campaign would at least save some face and offer renewed optimism for next term.
The alternative scenario is to finish seventh and settle for the Europa Conference League, or end up even lower and miss out on continental football altogether, which would harm our UEFA coefficient for future seasons.
With no other distractions amid our final six top-flight games over the next month, Liverpool must keep pushing for as high a finish as possible, even if a top four place proves beyond them.
Indeed, with winning the Europa League bringing the simultaneous reward of a top seeding for the subsequent Champions League, it’s a competition worth striving for, so Klopp is absolutely sending out the right message here.
You can see the manager’s press conference in full below, via Liverpool FC on YouTube: