Jurgen Klopp has condemned suggestions that Liverpool’s showdown with Manchester United does not belong in the Europa League.
Tonight’s last 16 encounter at Anfield has been widely billed as confirmation that both the Reds and Louis van Gaal’s side, who crashed out of the Champions League, have fallen on hard times.
But Klopp believes that the latest meeting between the great North West rivals is ‘the mother of all football games’ and insists that the standard of the Champions League is not often a reliable barometer.
He said: “What’s Champions League level? I saw in the Champions League a lot of really rubbish games. That’s how it is sometimes.
“It’s not about the tournament – it’s about the teams that are involved in it. I know Liverpool FC and Man United, both clubs want to be involved in the Champions League always until the last eight.
“But the Europa League is a very exciting tournament. Of course it’s a long way to go – a really long way – but now we can see the finish; we can see the line and now there are only top, top quality teams in this tournament.
“I don’t know one game that isn’t really exciting in the Europa League now. That means from now on, it’s something like a little or small Champions League. The last eight, the last four and then the final is always a big game if you want it. If you are not interested, then you don’t love football.
“It’s not important to say that in this moment we are not in the Champions League. We cannot change this. We can only do our best to change our situation in the future.”