Jurgen Klopp’s battle cry as Liverpool look to overturn first leg deficit against Atletico Madrid

The message from Jurgen Klopp was clear. For a team who have negotiated the domestic season in a near-faultless manner, there is a new requirement — perfect football.

This is the point of the tournament when the Champions League is at its most unforgiving, the stage where even a sub-standard 15 minutes can lead to elimination. Klopp is well aware of the tightrope upon which Liverpool will teeter against Atletico Madrid.

They may only trail 1-0 from the first leg but scoring twice against Diego Simeone’s streetfighters while preserving a clean sheet is easier said than done. It will take more than Anfield’s expectant crowd whipping up a tempest to unsettle Atletico.

The Spaniards go into the Anfield game with a one-goal advantage from the first leg 

During one rat-a-tat-tat exchange during his press conference on Tuesday, Klopp started assessing the challenge of what is required to reach the last eight. He was effectively firing out the requirements his team will need for victory.

High speed movement and sharper switching of play, be unpredictable, move through the gaps.

If Liverpool are ponderous, Klopp knows Atletico will form a barrier and be able to keep his men at bay ‘for the next six months’ so ingenuity is required.

‘We need to be nearly perfect,’ said Klopp, who must decide whether to start fit-again captain Jordan Henderson or deploy him from the bench. ‘That is how it is. We have to attack. We have to create. We have to protect like never before in our life and we have to interact and we need Anfield.

Liverpool will have to be at their high-intensity best to break down a resolute Atletico side

‘That is the truth. But it is always like this. I only say we should give it a proper try. That is all I want and then we accept what happens. If Atletico go through, congratulations. If not, we will deserve it. We need a result so we cannot worry about the situation. We have to have a fantastic night.’

Klopp does have history to draw upon. In December 2018, when the spectre of elimination loomed in the last match of the group stage, Liverpool ground out a 1-0 win against Napoli and six months later they lifted the trophy in Atletico’s stadium.

You got the sense from listening to Klopp that he has used every minute since Saul Niguez’s solitary strike on February 18 to prepare for the roadblock that is coming and work out how to weave a way around it.

‘It is like every game we have played since Atletico is a build-up for now,’ said Klopp, who is protecting a record of having won each of the 10 knockout ties he has overseen in Europe with Liverpool.

The Premier League club may be boosted by the return of Jordan Henderson should he be fit

‘I am not saying Bournemouth hit every ball over our heads, it is just they are a real block to play against. Traditionally, that is Diego Simeone with Atletico. A lot of people admire that and we have to fight against it. They are one of the best in how they play.

‘Napoli last season was the most difficult challenge I have ever faced in my life. An Italian team and you need to win 1-0? How is that possible? We did it. I do not say we will do it again but I do know we will give it a real try.’

They will try with cool heads. Sadio Mane was substituted at half-time in the first leg after Klopp became concerned that one false move would lead to him picking up a second booking. Atletico’s players had set a trap and the Senegal forward almost walked into it.

Liverpool have held meetings about the potential for Simeone’s men to time waste from an early stage and indulge in histrionics that are aimed to frustrate. Perfection is required — mentally as well as technically.

‘We have experience of coming up against them now,’ said Andrew Roberton, the left back who is fit after sitting out the Bournemouth win. ‘We’ve had that one game and, to be honest, over there I felt we dealt with it pretty well. It is frustrating at times but it is not going to change.

‘We don’t have control of that. It is up to the referee to deal with it if it is getting too much. We need to be focused on our game and we can’t get annoyed at things we can’t control. We need to stay clear and calm in our heads and if we do that it gives us the best possible chance to perform.

‘What we went through over there has helped us to experience that and hopefully know how to deal with it. Hopefully we can show that and stay calm and create the chances we need to create. We need a complete Liverpool performance.’

They actually need even more — they need to be flawless.