Jose Mourinho has suggested Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be under pressure not to lose a third Champions League cup final in the Reds’ clash against Tottenham.
Liverpool lost last season’s Champions League final 3-1 to Real Madrid, which was Klopp’s second defeat in the final of Europe’s premier club competition, having also been on the losing side against Bayern Munich whilst in charge of Borussia Dortmund in 2013.
Klopp was also beaten in the Europa League final in 2016, with Liverpool losing 3-1 to Sevilla, and Mourinho believes that the German will be focusing purely on winning against Tottenham in Madrid, but suggested that it would be a very difficult moment for him if the Reds were to lose.
“If Jurgen wins it’s an incredible achievement for him. If Jurgen doesn’t win, you know, to lose three Champions League finals, phew, that has to be really, really hard,” Mourinho told Sky Sports News on Friday [11:03am].
“But in this moment, he is a very positive guy, I’m sure he’s just thinking about winning.”
“Being a manager, and understanding what it means for a manager to play a Champions League final, I think there is always a negative side of it and the negative side will be that one team will is going to lose it and one manager will lose.”
OPINION
Mourinho is right to suggest that Klopp will be desperate to secure Liverpool a victory against Tottenham in the Champions League final. Klopp will be wanting his side to end an excellent season, which has seen the Reds record 97 points in the Premier League despite finishing runners-up to Manchester City, with a major European trophy. The German is yet to win any trophies during his time at Anfield, but he has managed to transform Liverpool into a side that is capable of challenging for both domestic and European honors on a regular basis. The final against Tottenham will be a massive personal moment for Klopp if he can record his first major success at Anfield, but the German will be aware of his previous disappointments in European finals. That will probably, as Mourinho suggests, make him even more focused on ensuring a positive end to this season’s Champions League final for Liverpool. However, it will be interesting to see how Klopp and his players respond if they were to suffer another defeat in the Champions League final. Klopp and everyone else connected with the club will be hoping that we do not have to find out.
