‘The boys are on fire…. you can see it in the way they train’: Jurgen Klopp insists his stars are ready for thrilling finale to the season as they prepare for Champions League quarter-final clash with Porto
- Premier League leaders Liverpool face Porto in the Champions League last eight
- Boss Jurgen Klopp insists his players are on fire ahead of a pulsating six weeks
- The Reds are top of Premier League and favourites to reach last four in Europe
Jurgen Klopp is ready to attack the final six weeks of Liverpool’s thrilling season and stressed his players ‘are on fire’ as they attempt to create history.
Liverpool’s confidence is soaring after dramatic late wins against Tottenham and Southampton propelled them to the top of the league, having played a game more than Manchester City, and they are favourites to reach the Champions League semi-final.
They host Porto on Tuesday night in the first leg of their quarter-final clash at Anfield – Liverpool beat the Portuguese team 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16 last season – and Klopp is getting the signals in training that the squad are ready for the challenge that is in front of them.
Jurgen Klopp insists his players are on fire ahead of their Champions League clash with Porto
Liverpool moved back to the top of the Premier League after beating Southampton on Friday
Klopp, who has a squad that is almost at full strength, said: ‘It is such a good time. We get up every morning and the weather is good, which is not always the case.
‘Spring is coming and we are in two big competitions. We want to finish our development. We want to write a few proper things in the chapter of our book. But the boys are on fire. You can see it in the way they train.’
Klopp also has striker Mohamed Salah back on the goalscoring trail following his 50th goal for the club against Southampton.
It ended a run of eight games without a goal for the Egyptian, but his manager insists the slight blip in form never had anyone at Anfield questioning his ability.
‘It felt already really good for him,’ said Klopp when asked about the 26-year-old’s goal at St Mary’s.
Klopp insists that there was never any concerns over Mohamed Salah, despite his goal drought
‘He was so close in so many moments and still now has 18 goals, 7 assists, so that’s a brilliant number.
‘So nobody was concerned. He is a grown man. He knows you have to work for it. So that’s why no one was concerned.
‘He scored a beautiful goal and it was decisive. In this moment at Southampton, it was open result-wise and then it was pretty decisive in that moment.’