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Klopp hunts Europa League glory versus Sevilla
The bookies offer odds on everything these days, particularly in football. As we discovered during Leicester City’s fairytale Premier League title triumph this season, it was more likely that David Moyes is named as an X-Factor judge, Piers Morgan hired as Arsene Wenger’s replacement at Arsenal, David Cameron appointed at Aston Villa, and Sir Alex Ferguson to enter and win Strictly Come Dancing.
The bets extend from the scoreboard to the pitch, and even to the touchline, apparently. One betting company recently announced that they will be offering odds on Jürgen Klopp’s activity in the sideline during Wednesday’s Europa League final. Specifically, he is at 5:6 odds to stand for over 79.5 minutes of the ninety.
A trivial example, perhaps, but it only goes to show how Klopp’s persona has galvanized the Liverpool fanbase since taking over at Anfield in October. The German manager took over an uninspiring Liverpool team from Brendan Rodgers in October and breathed life back into the club, stabilizing their league campaign and taking them all the way to the Capital One Cup final.
Klopp’s opportunistic attitude has proved infectious and now, Liverpool have the opportunity to end their season on a high note as they face Sevilla in their first European final since 2007. Although Klopp has lost all four of his previous finals — the 2013 Champions League, the 2014 and 2015 German Cup and the winter’s Capital One Cup — he has made Liverpool believe they can win again.
Said Klopp, per The Guardian: “I don’t feel the pressure. I cannot change. I feel opportunity. I don’t think I have all the time in the world but I don’t think I’ve ever felt doubt around me. If that’s right I don’t know, maybe I’m not sensitive, but it leaves me completely free to make decisions and completely free to get us all together. I came here because I was really convinced about the quality of these players. At the start, I was the only person who thought this but that’s not a problem. To see how they deserve this final makes me feel really happy. I don’t know what will happen in the game tomorrow but, for everything on our way, the experience will be really good.”
He added: “I am really pleased for the boys and that I can be part of this moment with the team. When I came here there was a real amount of doubt about these players so I am really happy they could show how strong they are. Tomorrow is an opportunity to make the final step in this season and achieve something together. Let’s try it.”
Philippe Coutinho, who has scored eleven goals (two in the Europa League) and made four assists since Klopp took over, echoed his manager’s statements. “Klopp is experienced in European competitions,” said the Brazilian midfielder. “He is a great manager and has made a few changes since he came in, the biggest one being to change the mentality and to make the players believe they can actually achieve something. Then step by step towards the end of the season Liverpool’s performances have improved and now we are close to winning something.
“Things tend to take time to bear fruit. It has been just seven months and it is the second final we are playing in so it is a great opportunity. The changes he has implemented have had a big part in that.”
Liverpool have often taken some time to get going in the Europa League this season, coming back from behind in both their Quarterfinal and Semifinal victories, but look unstoppable at their best.
They will face a stubborn Sevilla, though, who are seeking an unprecedented third consecutive Europa League triumph. Unai Emery’s men defeated Ukranian side Dnipro 3-1 in a thrilling victory last season and won the competition on penalties to Benfica in 2013. The Spanish side have competed in four previous Europa League finals in the past ten years and won all of them. Just four days later they will appear in the Copa del Rey final against Barca, seeking to capture their third Spanish cup title in the same time period.
So what makes Sevilla experts in the cup? It’s their Sporting Director Monchi, who orchestrates their revolving cast of stars. Last year, it was Carlos Bacca who was Sevilla’s main goal threat and now it’s French forward Kevin Gameiro, who has scored half of their fourteen Europa League goals this season.
Credit is also due to Emery, who is an expert video editor and enjoys spending hours pouring over tapes of the opposition himself, then cutting clips together to present his players.
Although they finished a distant seventh in La Liga, a full thirty-nine points behind title winners Barcelona, Sevilla will be confident they can expose Liverpool’s flaws in Basel tomorrow.
That said, Klopp has a similarly brazen mentality. Liverpool will throw their all at Sevilla and Champions League qualification is a mere afterthought as the Reds look to erase the memory off their Capital One Cup final defeat to Manchester City and recapture Liverpool’s historic European glories. “Winning would mean a nice party,” he said. “And I’m quite good at celebrating things. It is long ago that I really celebrated something so I am ready.”
Homepage photo credit: Christophe Karaba (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons