Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League final clash with Sevilla, Jurgen Klopp explained how he wanted to reward supporters with the trophy.
Klopp has witnessed a transformation in the Liverpool support since his arrival at the club at the beginning of October, with their vocal backing throughout the Reds’ Europa League run serving as evidence.
The power of the Kop as Liverpool’s 12th man has helped Klopp’s side to victory over the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal, setting up a clash with Sevilla on Wednesday night.
Thousands of Liverpool supporters will take to Basel this week, whether they have a ticket for the game or not.
While Klopp once again retracted his invitation for supporters to make it to the city without one, he said that was looking to make their “dreams come true” with a win.
“It’s because Basel’s a wonderful city and it’s a Europa League final!” he joked, when told about the amount of supporters heading to Switzerland.
“We already know about the desire of our supporters, we know how much they want to win this cup.
“They showed us in an impressive way when we’ve played away from home, [and] travelling with us around Europe.
“They live all over the world, that shows everything about this club.
“We’d really love to be the team to make these dreams come true.
“I can promise we will try everything, but the problem is Sevilla will be the same.
“[It will be an] open game, but open games you can win. We have to play our best.”
On a personal level, Klopp would be tasting European success for the first time, having experienced a bitter defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2013.
Addressing his time with Borussia Dortmund, with his last game in charge of the German side a 3-1 defeat to Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal final, Klopp said that “I have a lot of silver medals, but it’s better than no medal.”
Liverpool have already suffered final heartache under Klopp, losing to Man City in February’s League Cup showpiece.
As the 48-year-old continued, he stressed that “the longer you don’t win anything, the harder you try, the more likely you’ll win.”
The majority of St. Jakob-Park will be filled with Liverpool supporters on Wednesday night, with Sevilla selling fewer than their 7,000 allocation for the final.
Backed by a vociferous support, and provided further motivation to match their ambitions, Klopp will be keen for his side to take the Europa League title home with them come Thursday morning.
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