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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on an open top bus during the Champions League Winners Parade in Liverpool. (Image: Barrington Coombs/PA Wire)

Jurgen Klopp not concerned with being “first on the moon” at Club World Cup

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he feels no pressure to win the Club World Cup.

In the wake of their 3-1 victory over Manchester City which opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola hailed the Reds as “the best team in the world right now.”

Liverpool will get the chance to prove that—and lift a trophy they have never won before—in Qatar next month.

However, Klopp is not concerned about being the man to bring home that particular piece of silverware for the first time.

“I didn’t think about that. I’m not someone who has to be the first on the moon or the first winning the World Cup with Liverpool, but when we are there then we will try with all we have,” he told FIFA.com.

“I don’t feel any pressure. I see it as an absolute opportunity as you don’t often have the chance to play for it.

“You have to win the Champions League [to qualify] as the European team, so that already makes it special.”

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, October 22, 2019: Liverpool's players during a training session at Melwood Training Ground ahead of the UEFA Champions League Group E match between KRC Genk and Liverpool FC. (Pic by Paul Greenwood/Propaganda) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jons

Liverpool’s participation in Doha has caused more than its fair share of problems with the club faced with fielding two separate sides on two different continents within 24 hours of each other as they also have a League Cup quarter-final to play.

With the club in pole position to secure their first league title in 30 years everything else seems to be taking a back seat but Klopp said when they go to Qatar—a trip which will give their domestic rivals a chance to reduce their advantage while they are away—they will be focused on the task in hand.

“When we go there, we will be prepared and looking forward to it,” added Klopp.

“The boys want to play it, so it will be very interesting, and it will feel big for us, 100 percent.”