Jurgen Klopp says the attack on Sean Cox is ‘the lowest point’ of his Liverpool reign.
Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City will see Cox returning to Anfield for the first time since the horrific assault by Roma-supporting hooligans.
The father-of-three suffered life-changing injuries during the unprovoked attack outside the stadium just minutes before the 2018 Champions League semi-final.
As he continues to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation period, Klopp admits that the incident ranks among one of the darkest moments in his four-year tenure.
He said: “When it happened to Sean, it was really the lowest point for me in my whole time at Liverpool.
“Because something like this should not happen in general in life but it should not happen around a football game as well.
“The love obviously that Sean and his family has for this club and for football, I hope that it gave him [and] them all strength and power in the recovery time.
“We all know it’s not finished yet. We know it’s still a long way to go.
“But having this, that we can give him the opportunity to come back to watch a really big game, that he wants to that, that’s for me, coming from a real low point, it’s one of my highlights since I’m here because it’s so nice.
“I’m really looking forward to it and I hope we can organise it that I can see him for a couple of minutes before the game. I really want to.
“How the Liverpool community dealt with it (the attack), I hope that he feels that. We don’t only sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – we really live that.
“In this specific situation, it was very important to show that and I really hope they felt that the whole time and will feel that in the future when we can help him with his recovery as well.”