Klopp Hopes to Draw European Opponent in Champions League Quarter Finals

Whoever Liverpool get in Friday’s draw for the Champions League quarter finals, the Reds will believe they have what it takes to advance to the next round. Still, for the fans there will be sides they might rather avoid—and it’s not any different for the players and manager.

On that front, when asked who he might like to draw following Wednesday’s victory over Bayern Munich, Jürgen Klopp said if he had things his way, he’d prefer to avoid the other English sides and head to the continent to play at least one mid-week match next round.

“We all would say the same in the Champions League, ‘Let’s try to play teams from Europe,’” Klopp said. “But we will see. Somebody will play against somebody. It’s nothing we have to think about—whoever we get as an opponent we take and the boys love the competition.”

Though some might fancy a chance to knock rivals Manchester United out, and a few may even find reason to see a City or Spurs match-up as appealing, one imagines most fans would agree—Liverpool will take who they get, but a European opponent would be nice.

If nothing else, it rather seems the point of competition, to face sides that you don’t already play twice a season, sides that in many cases you won’t have played in years—or maybe even ever. Still, whoever they draw on Friday, Liverpool will go forward with belief.

Whether it’s Juventus or Barcelona or Ajax or Porto or whether it’s Manchester City or United to Tottenham, Liverpool know that it is their side that the others will fear drawing more than the Reds will fear drawing any of them.