The tight championship race in the English Premier League electrifies Jürgen Klopp. “There is pressure on the kettle now, but actually the most positive pressure you can have,” said the Liverpool FC team manager on Sky. He didn’t expect the Reds’ “extraordinary season” for a long time, “but now we’re here and fighting for the crown with two extraordinary teams. And of course that’s really crazy.”
After 28 games, Liverpool are level on points with leaders FC Arsenal in second place, followed by defending champions Manchester City, one point behind. While Klopp and his team face Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday (3 p.m.), important points are at stake for the two rivals in a direct duel (Sunday, 5:30 p.m. / both games on Sky).
Klopp: “I owe the people more than they owe me”
“I really enjoy just being there. And it will not fail because of our ambitions. Of course we want to go all the way now, but we’ll see whether we succeed,” said Klopp: “Maybe we’ll get a defeat on Sunday and then it’ll be all over. Or partially. What’s important during this phase is that you free yourself from all the chatter outside.”
Klopp is also trying to ignore the praises of Liverpool fans on his farewell tour. “Of course I notice it, but fortunately only in passing. But I know this, that love is great. It’s the same the other way around. “I owe the people more than they owe me,” he said, “but I’m completely caught up in the season at the moment and I’m not even thinking about my situation.”
The “classic” between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga has a very special meaning for Klopp. “They are special match days. And after Schalke said goodbye to the second division at some point, it was basically almost like the derby,” said the former BVB coach about the upcoming duel between the two top teams: “It’s not a derby now, but that’s what it is the German classic.”
This Saturday (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) he – “completely surprisingly” – is keeping his fingers crossed for the guests from Dortmund. With the black and yellow, he often annoyed Bayern during his time in the Bundesliga and snatched the championship title from them in 2011 and 2012. “Back then it was still like this: We beat Bayern, I mean four or five times in a row, which hadn’t happened before, but it was never the case that we outplayed them, we defended them well and “We countered very well,” Klopp recalled.
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In the summer, Klopp (56) is leaving Liverpool after nine years, although he still has a contract until 2026. The former Bundesliga coach (Dortmund and Mainz) became a legend at the “Reds” thanks to the 2020 championship title, the club’s first in 30 years, and the triumph in the 2019 Champions League.
