Jurgen Klopp has labelled Liverpool’s Champions League draw as a “proper football group” and expressed his excitement about facing Rangers for the first time in Liverpool’s history. On Thursday evening the Reds were drawn into Group A alongside Dutch champions Ajax, Napoli and Scottish Premiership runners-up Rangers and will begin their campaign on the week commencing September 5. While Klopp has faced Napoli and Ajax already during his time at the Anfield helm, in 2018,2019 and 2020 respectively, the Reds will lock horns with the Gers for the first time in their 130-year history, a prospect that the Liverpool manager is very much looking forward too.
Jurgen Klopp said: “It was only a couple of years back that we played two really tough matches against Ajax and we get drawn against Napoli pretty regularly, so we know quite a bit about both of them and they know quite a bit about us. I know there will also be some new lessons to be learned, though. There always are. Rangers are a new opponent for us but we know them, too. Their story over the last few years has been really interesting and they did really, really well to qualify for the group stage, given the teams they were up against in the qualifying matches. We also know a couple of their players well. Ryan Kent has had a great development since moving to Scotland and Ben Davies is just starting out on his journey with Rangers, so it will be good to come up against them. The only certainty right now is that all of the six games will be incredibly competitive and really intense. I’m excited about it. It is a proper football group and, like I said, a proper challenge.”
This season’s competition will present Klopp and his coaching staff with a unique scheduling list, with the group stage set to be completed by the first week of November due to the mid-season hiatus because of the World Cup which will take place in Qatar this winter. That means the Reds will play their six group games in three back-to-back blocks, starting with their opening Group A encounter in two weeks’ time.
Jurgen Klopp added: “All of the clubs have quality, they all have pedigree and I would say they all have a chance. The good thing is that we do also, so it makes sense for us to look forward to the challenge and give it a try. The difference this year is that the group stage will be shorter than usual, so we will have to be ready not just for the quality of the opposition but also for the different demands and rhythms.”
