Jurgen Klopp has revealed he’s been avoiding rewatching last season’s Champions League final.
But with Liverpool facing the side that defeated them last May on Tuesday, the Reds boss admitted he finally got himself to analyse the match despite it being ‘proper torture’.
Klopp missed out on the chance to win his second Champions League as Liverpool boss after winning the competition in 2019, as Real Madrid beat them 1-0 at the Stade de France in the final.
And the German admitted that whilst he recognises how impressive the Spanish side are, going back and watching the game as he prepared for Tuesday’s clash wasn’t the easiest of tasks.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Klopp said: “They are different games. One of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the most successful for sure. Won this competition I don’t know [how many times].
“Our own story, we played this final in Paris and I didn’t watch it back since then until this weekend. I realised immediately now I know why I didn’t watch it back! But I had to.
“It was proper torture. We played a good game and could’ve won the game. But we didn’t. They scored the decisive goal and we didn’t.
“You could see in the game how experienced Real Madrid were, how unfussed they were when the other team has chances they don’t lose confidence for one second. They know our chance will come and they defend with legs, deep defending together.
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“But that’s them and that’s the competition and that’s what you can learn from them. But that was seven to eight months ago.”
He continued: “But these are different teams, same clubs, different teams, different times and so there’s a history in the last few years, one of us was always in the final, and usually if you want to go to the final you have to kick us out or them.
“This time we play each other, so let’s see this time who’ll go through.”
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr scored in the second half of the final to seal the victory for his side, and has scored three goals in three games against Liverpool.
And when Klopp was asked about the racial abuse the star has suffered recently in his career, he stood up for the Brazilian that inflicted Champions League heartbreak on them last season.
“There’s nothing he could do on the pitch that could ever justify [the abuse],” Klopp said. “He’s a world class player. He’s already a Real Madrid legend at a very young age.”
“I hope he’s not fussed by those idiots.”
You can listen to all the updates from the game at Anfield on Tuesday evening live on talkSPORT.