Jurgen Klopp says Champions League qualification would represent progress for Liverpool
Saturday 5 May 2018 11:28, UK
Jurgen Klopp insists this season will be viewed as a "massive success" at Liverpool if they secure Champions League football for a second successive year.
Klopp's team travel to face rivals Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, and will all but guarantee themselves a top-four finish if they avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool have not recorded back-to-back top-four finishes in the league since 2009 and Klopp insists his side will have made satisfactory progress if they once again qualify for the Champions League.
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"It would be massive. It was actually the main target we had at the start of the season," he said.
"You want to be champions but it was clear after a few months that would not be possible. The target is qualifying for the Champions League.
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"With the group we've got, with how we came to the final and playing with the biggest intensity in all parts, being ready again, then the injuries we had, it would a massive success. It's exactly what we want.
"You cannot plan for a Champions League final, obviously. Nobody thought about that at the start of the season.
"Of course we wanted to go as far as possible but my main target was the top four. We worked hard for that and now we want to bring it over the line.
"If we do it, it would show everything, but it's still an 'if'. I don't like the word 'would' too much. Let's talk about it when it happens. We have to play football games to make that happen."
Klopp insists his team can cope with the emotional effects of qualifying for the Champions League final when they take on Chelsea this weekend.
"I have not a little bit of doubt about the mindset of my boys," he said. "It was a really nice thing to go to the final. The crowd were still in the stadium and the boys went there.
"That gave them a real boost. Before that they were exhausted. Done. Happy, yes, but Chelsea on Sunday.
"This little 'mind holiday' was really cool. We have to use the little gaps you have. We did that in Rome and then the flight back. It's not a question of 'are we recovered?' - we have to be recovered.
"We don't ask these questions 'How do you feel?' after that. It is all the process we are in. We have to do 'that', and then 'that, and then 'that' - always in the right moment 100 per cent.
"We have times in between the games for the boys to switch off and it is only important we switch on at the right moment and everything can be fine."
