Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will attack against Inter but warns his players that the Nerazzurri ‘won’t come here as tourists.’
The Nerazzurri suffered a 2-0 loss at the Stadio Meazza in February and will be looking for a comeback in the reverse fixture at Anfield Road tomorrow. Although Italian media don’t seem optimistic about Inter’s chances to qualify for the quarter-finals, Klopp has warned his players about the Serie A giants.
“Inter don’t come here as tourists, they want to chase the game,” he said at a press conference.
“That’s what we want to do because we are not a team that defends results, we want to attack the game again.”
“It’s 2-0. It’s the lead that gets turned over most often in football. If you think you’re halfway through, you’re on the wrong path. It’s a much better result than I expected before we played there. It was a really tough tie,” the coach added.
“They turn up after beating the bottom team 5-0. Lautaro Martínez scored and Edin Džeko. Really happy that Nicolò Barella isn’t playing as he had a hand in four goals, I think. They are a really good team; they don’t come here as tourists. They want to attack the game. Let’s see what we can get from it.”
“Playing Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and then Tuesday is a horrible schedule,” Klopp continued.
“If we can make changes on decisive positions, like the machine room, midfield, and these kinds of things, then it’s possible [to maintain form]. If not, then not.
“Maybe I start out of the blue with it, but it’s essential that, at one point, we go again for the five subs in the Premier League. It is because we have three competitions where we have five subs and one we don’t have that.”
The Premier League champions could see Thiago Alcantara, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip return to action tomorrow night after missing Saturday’s Premier League clash against West Ham.
“I think they all trained yesterday, full training,” Klopp said.
“Thiago only spent a week out, he is probably fine, but we have to wait, Joel was out only for three or four days, so he will be fine.
“With Bobby, it was longer, it was his first session so we have to see if we stress that or if it makes sense to give him a few more days with proper training. We don’t train properly today. It’s a minus one session and Bobby might need something else, so we will see. But they are all in training.”