Europa League: More than just a cup for Klopp’s Reds

Liverpool face four-time champions Sevilla in final today.

KARACHI: It has been 11 years since Liverpool last tasted European success; and nine since they reached a final in Europe. For a club used to regularly fighting for the highest of honours, the past 11 years, in fact the past two decades, have been, to be polite, extremely below-par.

Liverpool have been a mediocre club for the past five to six years and except for the scintillating 2013-14 Premier League title challenge and the 2012 League Cup, the Reds have very little evidence to support their claim of being among the best in the world.

So when Liverpool come out of the tunnel at St Jakob-Park in Basel to face two-time defending champions Sevilla in the Europa League final today, all their focus and desire will be on ending this barren run and once again announcing themselves as a part of Europe’s elites.

They would, with all their might, try to cap an inconsistent but exciting season with a trophy to have tangible evidence that they have progressed under Jurgen Klopp.

With both sides finishing outside the top four in their respective leagues, the added incentive of Champions League qualification for the winner means they will both be even more up for it come kick-off.

And while Liverpool have history behind them, Sevilla may well consider themselves the rightful owners of Europa; a notion endorsed by manager Unai Emery.

“The Champions League is nice, and we want to play in it, but you meet the very top teams in that competition and they overcome you. When you are in the Europa League, you know you can win it,” said the former Valencia manager, according to Daily Mail.

Los Nervionenses’ love affair with the competition has seen them win a record four titles, with the last two coming in back-to-back triumphs.

Klopp, who will be hoping to mark his first year in charge of Liverpool with a piece of silverware, is not daunted by Sevilla’s dominance in the tournament.

“There’s no advantage for one team. If you won it last year, what does it mean? If you won it two years ago, what does it mean? Actually nothing, so it’s another game,” Klopp told Liverpool’s official website.

The German, on the other hand, is hoping that Liverpool’s hunger for the big occasions — which has seen them eliminate Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal on their way to the final — will help them go all the way and bag their fourth Europa crown.

“Our big advantage is that we think we are different to other teams in this moment. And for us there’s nothing more important in this moment,” he added. “It’s not about putting the pressure higher and higher, it’s about getting the right atmosphere.”

In addition to Liverpool’s dramatic rise in the competition, they also have a better away record than their opponents.

Sevilla, who finished seventh in La Liga this season, are the only team in Spain’s top division to have not won a single game away from home, making their away points tally the 19th worst in the Spanish top flight.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have the sixth best away record in the Premier League and most of Liverpool’s dramatic victories over the season have been away from home, something which may well play in favour of Klopp’s side.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2016.

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