Jurgen Klopp was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s pre-season friendly with Bayern Munich in Germany.
Enjoyable knockabouts against German second division sides and a confidence-boosting romp over relegated Premier League opposition will have their value.
Liverpool, though, will learn an awful lot more about their pre-season preparations when they once again step out at the National Stadium here in Singapore this evening.
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, one-time rivals of Jurgen Klopp, will be the familiar foes in the penultimate friendly of the Reds’ warm-up programme.
While, unlike 12 month previous, new injuries have thus far been avoided, the disruption this time has been at losing Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia and the scramble to replace them having already thought the midfield renovation was largely concluded with the signing of £95million duo Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, one-time rivals of Jurgen Klopp, will be the familiar foes in the penultimate friendly of the Reds’ warm-up programme.
While, unlike 12 month previous, new injuries have thus far been avoided, the disruption this time has been at losing Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia and the scramble to replace them having already thought the midfield renovation was largely concluded with the signing of £95million duo Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Bayern, as boss Thomas Tuchel admitted on Tuesday, are not without their own issues in the number six position, while they are also managing the fall-out of losing players to Saudi Arabia with former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane joining the exodus. Their pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane remains ongoing.
Nevertheless, they will represent a significant increase in standard the Reds have faced in recent weeks, Bayern having lost narrowly 2-1 to Manchester City in Japan last week before beating J1 League side Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 on Saturday.
“It is the most difficult game for us, definitely,” says Reds boss Klopp. “We saw same footage of their previous games in Japan including against Manchester City. Bayern are traditionally a really good team.
“They have four world-class centre-halves, two world-class midfield pairings, up front speed and everything and technique, finishing skills. That’s quite impressive.
“But we want a strong opponent so this is definitely the toughest test for us this pre-season. That’s what we need in this moment.
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“I’m excited. I am able to see where we are, how we can adapt to the quality of the opponent. From the first day we have been back for pre-season, I’ve tried to make really clear our defending has to be at a completely different level to last season. We had better do that or we will have real problems.”
The uncertainty caused by surprise departures has ensured that, despite their carefully planned summer, preparations have not been ideal for Liverpool as they look to regain their place in the Champions League having finished outside the top four last season for the first time since 2016.
Indeed, Klopp isn’t even thinking about launching a fourth title challenge in six seasons – and has suggested only Manchester City can be so ambitious.
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“We need points and a lot of them,” he says. “Yes, a club the size of Liverpool has to be successful. Otherwise the club has to find different solutions.
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“Nobody besides maybe City can have the real target to become champions again this year. All the other teams fight for the Champions League and that’s what we do as well. The earlier you qualify for the Champions League, the higher you are in the table… if you are second and in striking distance to first then you might have a chance. I don’t know who will be there.
“For us it’s not about that. It’s about Bayern, Darmstadt and then Chelsea. Those are the games I’m thinking about.
“As important as getting the best players together is creating an atmosphere and spirit and a common desire that we can really use as a basis to make the best possible season. If we do that we’ll be in a good place.”
More than 50,000 supporters are expected to attend the game on Wednesday – most of them Liverpool followers – with the Reds having had a significant presence in the city throughout their stay.
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