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'Would I invite Ramos to my 60th birthday?' - Klopp not out for revenge when Liverpool meet Real Madrid
The Reds boss says he has let go of his anger after the 2018 Champions League final as the sides prepare to meet in Spain
Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool are not on "a revenge tour" as they prepare to take on Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals this week.
The Reds touched down in the Spanish capital on Monday afternoon ahead of their tantalising last-eight tie against the Liga champions.
Much of the build-up, pre-match, has centred around the sides' meeting in the 2018 final in Kiev, which Real won 3-1.
Sergio Ramos, the villain-in-chief that night, will not play on Tuesday due to injury, but as many as 14 of the 22 players who started the game could do so again, with opinion split as to who enters the tie as favourites.
What's been said?
Speaking at a press conference in Madrid on Monday evening, Klopp said: "We are not on a revenge tour here. I don’t believe too much in revenge, but it would be nice to get through, because it would mean we are in the next round!
“My motivation is on the highest level because it’s the Champions League, we play Real Madrid and we want to go to the next round. It has nothing to do with 2018.
“When we got the draw, of course I remembered the game because it was the first time we have played each other since.
“I said after that [2018] game that if somebody asked me in a press conference a week later or a month later if I would invite Sergio Ramos to my 60th birthday, then I would say no! Meanwhile, I would think about it again. It's not that he's not a great footballer but I didn’t like what happened that night. It was a strange night for us, but it’s long ago and I cannot get that feeling, that anger, back.
“I can only try to prepare my team to show tomorrow how good we are as a football team. It’s a strange season and a difficult season for us, but we want to show how good we are, and if we are better than Real Madrid and can score more goals, then we go to the next round. And if not then Real Madrid will.”
Do Liverpool have a chance to win?
Klopp believes so.
He said: “Our team is built for these kind of games, when we face a football-playing side. That’s why we have a chance, absolutely.
“I heard outside that everybody says Real Madrid is favourite. Great! No problem at all with that. They are used to the role, and we have no problem with the role of challenger."
