Liverpool head coach, Jurgen Klopp, has vowed that the team is ready to compete in the Europa League this season.
The Reds have had to contend with Europa League football after finishing 5th in the Premier League last season, thus missing out on the UEFA Champions League for the first time in seven years.
Liverpool last played in the Europa League in 2016 during Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge; they reached the competition’s final but fell to a 3-1 defeat to Sevilla.
Since then, they have gone ahead to win one Champions League and reached two other finals, while also lifting the Premier League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup.
Now, they face LSK tonight for their opening group stage match. They have been pitted alongside Union Gilliose and Toulouse.
However, it seems the Europa League is the only silverware missing in Klopp’s enviable cabinet of trophies. He has, thus, affirmed that the team will leave no stone unturned.
“We are here to compete, not to give opportunities,” Klopp said in the press conference ahead of the game.
“My first year I thought the Europa League was a bit too much for us until we got to the final. We had to fly to Russia, played on a frozen pitch in Sion.
“That was a different squad. We were not ready and we came through somehow. I don’t think we were exceptional until the quarter-final and and semi-final.
It is a different time, a different team. We are better prepared. We enjoy it more to be here because we had no clue at that time what to expect.
“We have to be motivated, and we are excited to play in the Europa League. I didn’t watch the Champions League (this week), I didn’t miss the anthem.”
Joe Gomez, who was 18 then and missed out on injury, is the only player left from Klopp’s side that played in the Europa League seven years ago.
