Liverpool and Man United have met on 194 occasions, but on Thursday, they do so for the first time in Europe. The Reds boss wants a historic shift for the historic tie
Jurgen Klopp’s first experience of the Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke was an intoxicating one.
In 22 minutes, BVB turned a 3-0 spanking into a most remarkable 3-3 draw, with the visitors to the Westfalenstadion ending the encounter with nine men. Afterwards, he shared a lift with Fred Rutten, Schalke’s boss at the time, telling him:
“If it smells of sweat in here, it's me. The match was just so exciting!" That was in 2008 and on Thursday night, as Liverpool tackle Manchester United in continental competition for the first time, the Reds manager will expect his players to be soaked in perspiration as they sprint around their greatest rivals. Klopp does not deal in magic, believing real wizardry is born out of hard work. And at Anfield, in the first leg of the historic Europa League last-16 tie, the hosts will put in a shift and a half as they look to “correct things” against Louis van Gaal’s men.
Klopp’s introductory taste of English football’s biggest fixture ended in defeat. Wayne Rooney converted United’s sole shot on target to score the only goal on Merseyside back in January. That league result is still resident in his mind; so much so that he was desperate for Liverpool to be drawn against their familiar foes in the competition.
Including that disappointment, the side from down the M62 have won the past four derby meetings - they have never recorded five on the spin. Klopp wants to ensure it stays that way as he called on the Kop to “set an absolutely new level” in order to collectively smother their opponents.
It may only be the round of 16, and it may not be the Champions League, but it’s Liverpool versus United under the lights, and it will be an occasion. Klopp used a different word to describe it - “opportunity” - and with both teams looking to emerge from the flux of the past few years, this tie could prove decisive for the victors.
There have been attempts to lessen the importance of the fixture and use it as a tool to measure how far both giants have fallen given they face off on Europe’s secondary stage rather than its champions’ one.
Both Klopp and Van Gaal have killed such thoughts.
“We play against Manchester United in a European tournament – that is absolutely cool,” said the Reds boss. “Maybe another person would say: ‘In the Champions League would be cooler.’ Maybe, but it’s not a dream land. We are really excited about this game and everybody should be.”
His counterpart spoke of not living in the past and instead conquering the reality: neither side are where they truly want to be, but progressing in the Europa League takes one closer to their preferred destination.
And Klopp is determined to ensure that is Liverpool. In the club’s last two fixtures, the players have illustrated their capacity to learn under the German. Against Manchester City they proved they could pick themselves up powerfully after their League Cup final disappointment, fulfilling the manager’s demand to “strike back”.
At Selhurst Park, they came back from a goal down while a man down to win 2-1 in the dying seconds. In the reverse match with Crystal Palace, the scoreline was the same, but Alan Pardew’s men were triumphant following Scott Dann’s header on 82 minutes, and Klopp had to remind his charges that they decided when a match was over, not the opposition. Liverpool did just that on Sunday, and they have to continue showing evidence that they are learning under the 48-year-old, most especially against United.
They will need to be authoritative and clinical: Van Gaal’s side have scored with all four of their shots on target against them this season in the Premier League, while the Reds failed to create enough home or away to match United’s superiority in both boxes.
“That is not allowed,” to borrow a phrase from Klopp, over these two matches. "You cannot play this game without making mistakes, but it's all about the reaction," the Reds boss said at Melwood ahead of the match.
"In a game you miss a chance, you have to carry on, you concede a goal, you have to carry on.
"Results like at Palace help, really, because then you start believing in it. I can say everything is easy, I don’t have to play, but the players have to feel it.
"I saw in this game the reaction with one man down. We have to react on the things that happen in the game. We have to take what we can get. Everything.”
Revenge is the reaction he is after on Thursday as the hosts look to make Van Gaal’s “problems bigger” in the “mother of all football games”.
Liverpool versus Manchester United in Europe has never happened before. And if Klopp has it his way, it will be the start of Manchester United never being dominant over Liverpool again during his reign.
- Goal