Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last night and now face a ‘massive task’ to qualify for the competition next season, Jurgen Klopp has admitted.
The Reds were defeated 6-2 on aggregate across both legs by the La Liga giants and it means that the only thing that the Anfield outfit are now playing for is a top four finish and face a daunting two-week wait before season-defining clashes with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal.
The German’s men are currently sixth in the Premier League table, six points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.
“With the history we have in this competition we start usually with the idea of winning it,” he said (as quoted by 90min). “It is ‘the’ competition and we want to be part of it every year and that is now a massive task for us.
“We come back from the international break and we have a proper football week ahead of us with three games – City, Chelsea, Arsenal – which will then probably define where we get out of it. This week is a pretty decisive one.
“Our job is to squeeze everything out of this season. It is clear we want to be top four.”
Our next game comes on April 1 and it’s the small matter of a trip to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s outfit. We then face Chelsea away from home before welcoming current league leaders Arsenal to Anfield.
You can’t help but feel that the results we pick up across our next three games will go a long way in determining what position we’re in at the end of the campaign.
Qualifiyng for Europe’s premier competition is extremely important if we’re to attract big names to Merseyside in the summer.