Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has warned Villarreal they won’t know what’s hit them when they enter Anfield’s cauldron on Thursday.
Liverpool’s Europa League campaign has been driven by emotion, and Klopp - hunting a twelfth European final for the Merseyside club – again sought to stir passions with a pointed reminder of the Spanish club’s premature triumphalism.
Klopp says he was surprised by the excessive reaction to Adrian Lopez’s late winner at El Madrigal, suggesting Villareal coach Marcelino ought to be cautious about heading to Anfield with such a ‘narrow’ lead.
A week ago, Spanish media quizzed Marcelino on whether Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat exposed Premier League deficiencies compared to La Liga. The mood was more typical of a conclusive second leg, ensuring there will be no shortage of ammunition in Klopp’s pre-match team talk.
“If we can create - with our game - a similar atmosphere as we did against Dortmund, then it will be much more difficult for Villarreal than they imagine in this moment. That is how it is,” said Klopp.
“It's another atmosphere, it's another game.
“I do not know what they know about Anfield. In the moment they scored in the last minute of the game to make it 1-0 and if you don't celebrate then there's something wrong. So it's not a big surprise that they celebrated like this. It's more about when my colleague said after the game that 1-0 was the result he dreamed of.
“The only thing I felt at this moment was half time. Nothing happened, you have to come to Anfield. It was what I felt and I'm still feeling this.”
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