Liverpool take on Real Madrid on Tuesday night for their Champions League quarter-final first leg, a rematch of the 2018 final.
Their previous meeting was brought up several times as Jurgen Klopp spoke to the media before the game, especially as Sergio Ramos injured Mohamed Salah in that final.
“We are not on a revenge tour here,” Klopp said in his pre-match press conference.
“My motivation is the highest because this is the Champions League and we want to go to the next round, but this has nothing to do with 2018.
“It’s the first time we play Real Madrid since then, so of course I remember the game.
“I said it after the game that time that if somebody asked me in a press conference a week later if I would invite Sergio Ramos to my birthday then I would have said ‘no’. Meanwhile I would think about it again.
“Of course, I said I didn’t like what happened that night. It was for us a strange night.
“It was completely normal and it was long ago. I can’t even get that feeling or anger back, so I don’t even try. What I try is to prepare my team for tomorrow.
“It’s a difficult season, but we want to show how good we are.”
Klopp went on to discuss Liverpool‘s role as underdogs.
“I heard that everybody says Real Madrid is favourite, so great,” he said.
“I have no problem at all with that. They are used to the role and we have no problem with the role of the challenger.
“We know we were good that night in 2018, but being good for 25 minutes wasn’t enough.
“Nobody will care in 10 or 15 years how good we were for 25 minutes.
“It was a different time and place and since then a lot of things have happened.”
