Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool will rotate against Milan tomorrow: ‘We have to do it, and we will do it.’
The Reds have already qualified for the last 16 stage, winning their group.
On the other hand, Milan must beat the Reds at San Siro tomorrow and hope Porto and Atletico Madrid draw in Portugal.
“We have to rotate and we will rotate, that’s clear,” Klopp said at a press conference, as quoted by Liverpooloffside.
Klopp is promising rotation for Tuesday’s game against AC Milan—but says he won’t change the entire starting eleven. https://t.co/YsZxrrFfam
— The Liverpool Offside (@LFCOffside) December 6, 2021
“The medical department would smash me if we played the same side again and we know that we will make changes.
“But it’s always like this when you get fresh legs in you can play a higher energy game and have a better game, and I cannot change everyone. We need to still have players on the pitch and the players all understand this.
“We want to field the best possible squad for the situation we’re in,” Klopp continued.
“We’ve played five games in the last 14 days which is a lot and after the Milan game we play a similar amount of games in a similar amount of time.
“It’s pretty likely that [Divock] Origi will start,” the German coach revealed.
“He knocks on my door and we talk from time to time. It’s about letting things happen. He had injuries in the wrong moments. I remember that decisive moment (in 2016) he was flying and got injured against Everton.
Klopp: "It's special thing Origi's skillset that he can come and play brilliantly. Biggest game in our history v Barca, he started and was incredible. He's a positive person. Talented, shoots left and right, really quick, in the air a monster. An interesting package."
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) December 6, 2021
“It’s special thing Origi’s skillset that he can come and play brilliantly. The biggest game in our history against Barcelona, he started and he was incredible.
“He’s a positive person. Talented, shoots left and right, really quick, in the air a monster. An interesting package.
“You can only win things with a fantastic squad. We are happy with the squad we have. We’ve known each other for a long time. We know our roles, our football looks more mature than in the past. The boys have a good relationship with each other. We have a good squad.”
Milan lost the reverse fixture at Anfield Road, the first Champions League match in more than seven years for the Rossoneri.
The Serie A giants lost their first three group stage games against the Reds, Atletico Madrid and Porto, but collected four points in the reverse fixtures against the Spanish and the Portuguese side.
Stefano Pioli and Fikayo Tomori spoke at a press conference before the game, saying that the Rossoneri will have to deal with Liverpool’s intensity to take all three points and keep their qualification hopes alive.
I not understand why they talk about these draw between porto and atletico, for milan atletico win is still good just need to beat liverpool and that it
I think even with a heavily rotated Liverpool squad Milan will still struggle. Having Ibra in attack gives Liverpool defenders a focal point. An easy target to mark. Keeping him under control is a different thing but with the lack of incision and quality from the wings I can’t see it being a difficult task to restrict the service into him. Combination of Milan’s injuries & Liverpool rotation makes me suspect it will be a draw.
Any team who win their first 5 matches in the group f death deserve to rest players in their final game. I think it’s still gonna be strong Liverpool performance even if they rest their best.
Milan will have to work hard to win, also because we also have many first team players out.
Agreed MF. Kudos to Liverpool for playing such relentless, good football and still staying competitive in the Premier League. Although part of me wants to travel back in time to the feeling of being 2-1 up at Anfield at half time and stay in that moment for a long time!
Klopp is not a fool and with the group already won, it is non-sense to risk fatigued players in this match. I think that at least 6-7 players won’t be used, he can be competitive as sh*t but he is not a fool. Milan has a good chance to win but of course it won’t be easy
He said the Medical team would kill him. Hahahaha. Wish Italian team’s medical team’s would do the same. Serie A’s injury list is nuts.
I do love how Liverpool are considered these super human beings. Half the players wouldn’t be performing at this level in different circumstances. It’s all about Klopp.
Even Salah was only ok until he started playing under Klopp. He then became one of the best players in the world. That’s the difference a manager makes.
Pioli has made a huge difference at Milan. Not as big a difference but still the contrast between before and after he took over, with the exact same players, is huge.
This is the big challenge for overcoming Liverpool. It doesn’t matter if they rest players, it’s the system, it’s Klopp.