Before the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City last week, Jurgen Klopp was asked if his side would rein in their attacking instincts, given the size of the occasion and the quality of the opposition.
His answer was emphatic.
“Sitting back is not a solution against City,” he warned. “It would make no sense.”
Liverpool, he promised, would play on the front foot. They would be brave, go at City from the first whistle. They would feed off the frenzied atmosphere, using Anfield to their advantage.
Their courage brought rich rewards. Liverpool's 3-0 victory has them within touching distance of the semi-finals, ready to take their place alongside Europe’s elite. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona should all be waiting when the draw for the last four is made in Switzerland on Friday.
Now, all they need to do is finish the job. Simple, eh?
The bookmakers expect them to – Liverpool are overwhelming favourites to qualify of course – and history explains why. Only seven times in the history of the European Cup has a team overturned a three-goal first-leg deficit to progress, and only twice since it became the Champions League in 1992. Liverpool, if you were wondering, have never surrendered a three-goal advantage in any kind of knockout tie.
“It’s 80 per cent in their favour,” Jan Molby, the former Reds midfielder, told Goal this week. An article on UEFA’s official website on Monday went further, rating City’s chances at less than 6%. Still, some bookies have them as short as 4/1 to go through.
For that, perhaps, we can blame Barcelona. Or rather Paris Saint-Germain. Because if ever we needed an example of how a first-leg lead can be wiped out, we need only to look back 13 months or so, to that extraordinary night at Camp Nou.
Then, PSG saw their four-goal advantage blown away amid crazy scenes, Barcelona scoring three times in the last seven minutes to complete a remarkable 6-1 victory. A night for the ages in Catalunya.
A lesson, too, for Klopp and his team in how not to approach the second leg of a knock-out tie. At the Etihad, they must avoid the pitfalls which accounted for PSG. They cannot afford to get caught between containment and commitment; to give encouragement to a team with nothing to lose.
It is hard to imagine Klopp approaching any game with the idea just to defend, and it would be dangerous for him to consider such an option here despite the scoreline. Liverpool’s defending has improved notably in recent weeks, with eight clean sheets in their last 12 games, but they would be wise to resist the urge to sit back against a City side who have already put five past them in a game this season.
“We have to cause them as many problems as we can,” Klopp told his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon. Soon after, Virgil van Dijk would tell us that Liverpool were aiming to win the game. “We must do the same as we did in the first half of the first game,” smiled the confident Dutchman, as at ease in front of the cameras as he is when defending.
The feeling is that this is the best plan of action for this side, regardless of the resilience displayed in the second half at Anfield last week. Keeping City at bay for 45 minutes was impressive – Guardiola’s side did not muster a single shot on target during the game – but setting out to do it for another 90, away from home, is a risky business.
That's what PSG, a side packed full of excellent players, tried to do. They looked to sit on their lead against Messi and Co. and came unstuck. Remember the stat about them completing four passes between Barcelona’s fourth goal and the final whistle? Three of those, of course, were restarts.
"Being in the lead is not winning," added Klopp. "You are only in the lead. We need a little bit more from this game."
Pep Guardiola, for his part, spoke of the need for City to play “the perfect game” on Tuesday while Fernandinho, his most defensive-minded midfielder, talked about “fighting to the end.” Curiously, the Brazilian also claimed Liverpool were a team who “like to play long balls.” Mind games, or just misguided analysis?
Rather, the Reds should look to utilise the things that got them into this position in the first place – their speed, their physicality and their unfettered attacking instincts.
A goal for the visitors changes everything, and Liverpool should be confident of getting one.
Guardiola, meanwhile, knows that the spotlight is on his side after the beating at Anfield and the collapse against Manchester United last Saturday. Praise has been lavished upon the Premier League champions-elect all season long; now they must answer the tougher questions.
“My team is extraordinary,” the City boss said, bullishly. “They are incomparable to many others, they are exceptional.”
He did, however, admit that if he has to chase the game, he would rather not do so against a side with Liverpool’s pace and quality.
His task will be made harder, and Liverpool’s easier, by the news that Mohamed Salah trained as normal at Melwood on Monday evening. The Egyptian, with 38 goals for the Reds this season, will be key again if they are to advance.
They have issues elsewhere though, particularly in midfield, where the absence of the suspended Jordan Henderson and the injured Emre Can places huge emphasis on Gini Wijnaldum. The Dutchman will play the anchor role, having done so reasonably well against Everton at the weekend.
For others this could be a defining night. For Loris Karius it’s a big one against his former club, for Dejan Lovren it’s another huge test to pass, for the likes of Van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane it’s the biggest game of their careers, and the reason they came to Merseyside. Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, will resume his battle with the brilliant Leroy Sane, having very much won the first installment.
Still, Klopp will expect to go through. “We must be ready to use this wonderful situation we have created,” he said. He knows what it would mean to see Liverpool in Friday’s draw.
He knows, too, the best way of getting them there. So don’t expect the Reds to go into their shell like PSG did against Barcelona. It’s not in their nature, or their best interests, to take a backward step. They’ll come to Manchester to win, and to prove they belong with the big boys.
