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BUDAPEST. — Jurgen Klopp said every club left in the Champions League will have designs on winning it.
But despite Liverpool cruising into the quarter-finals, the German downplayed his own team’s chances as they struggle for form on the domestic front.
Liverpool advanced after Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over RB Leipzig completed a 4-0 aggregate victory, moving the 2019 winners into the quarters for the third time in four seasons. With the Merseyside club languishing in eighth spot in the English Premier League, seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, winning the Champions League appears their best shot at qualifying for Europe’s elite club competition next season.
“The only reason you play in this competition is because you want to win it,” Klopp said.
“I am not silly, we know so far this is not a season which looks like we will win the Champions League, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to go as far as possible and then we will see what is possible for us.
“Now we have to wait for the draw; it will be extremely tough whoever we get, but we don’t really think that far, we don’t have to.”
Mohamed Salah, who opened the scoring in the 70th minute on Wednesday before Sadio Mane made it 2-0, said it was important to focus game by game.
“The team is not in the best shape but we want to fight in the Champions League and in each game in the Premier League,” he said.
“We don’t have to look to the big picture because sometimes when you do, we see too much pressure carried on to the pitch. We just need to leave the pressure off the field and play.”
After six successive defeats at Anfield and dropping to eighth place in the English Premier League, Klopp’s men looked relieved to be away from home, with the second leg also played in the Hungarian capital due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. — AFP.
Online Reporter