Jürgen Klopp Has Missed Football “So Much It’s Unbelievable”

With each day that passes, the Premier League’s return seems more certain, with a June 17th restart date targeted to get teams with a game in hand up to speed before a full slate of matches takes place on the weekend of June 20th.

And while there may be some conflicted feelings about the safety of football returning, or about playing out the season behind closed doors, at the end of the day for those involved the overwhelming feeling is relief that it’s happening.

“I have missed it so much it’s unbelievable,” Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp told the BBC earlier today. “I know it’s not the most important thing in life but it is my passion. I hope the people are looking forward to it because we are.”

The big thing to look forward to, for Klopp and his players and Liverpool’s fans, will be the team officially securing the league title. Number nineteen after a long three decades—and a couple of extra months now with football on hold.

Nobody at the club is taking that for granted, though, even with nine games to play and only six points needed to secure the title. And even when it is secure, there will be a chance to put exclamation point on a very strange season.

“We are not champions yet and we know that,” Klopp added. “We know we are close but close is not there. There are 27 points left for us and we will try everything to take them all. We have to play football games and we have to win them.

“We don’t want to stop winning after two games or whatever it is. I don’t see results written in the stars. We have to work really hard.”