Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he would rather keep any secret to beating teams managed by Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola to himself, while lauding the Paris Saint-Germain coach, who he will face this week.
The Reds will open their 2018/19 Champions League campaign against PSG at Anfield on Tuesday as they hope to start positively in Group C.
Klopp will go head to head with a former acquaintance in Tuchel, who will be on the touchline for the visitors, as the two teams aim to steal a march for qualification in what looks like a difficult group with Napoli and Red Star Belgrade.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach, who has enjoyed a relatively good record against Tuchel during the duo’s time in Germany, joked about keeping his formula for success against the PSG head coach secret; it was also put to Klopp that Tuchel is a follower of Guardiola, against whom he has also enjoyed a good record.
“If there’s a secret, let’s keep it a secret”, Klopp told a press conference.
“Always with records it’s quite difficult to explain. At Dortmund I had a strong side and he was at Mainz so it’s not really fair to bring that up."
The German also added that PSG have done a great job by roping in Tuchel this year and stressed his abilities can be of good use to the Ligue 1 champions.
“He’s an outstanding coach. I thought it’s a smart decision by PSG to sign Thomas Tuchel.
“With this type of team, with that individual quality, you need a coach to teach them how to play as a team.
“He’s one of the best I know. That makes them a big challenge for us.
“It’s football there are always possibilities and opportunities to bring these fantastic footballers onto your level so you can beat them. That’s what we need to try and do.
“You cannot only defend or only attack. It’s all about the mix. I’ve been lucky down the years I had teams with a good mix of mentality and quality."
Klopp went on to claim that games against teams managed by Guardiola and Tuchel come with a lot of work because of the fact that they are good at what they do.
“When you see the games against Pep or Thomas there is an unbelievable amount of work to do. They are really smart with their positioning.
“We have to run, close the space and use the ball and stuff. I like this challenge but only because I have a really good football team.
“If I would not be the manager I would 100% watch this game so now I have the most average place in the stadium to watch it.”
Liverpool will be aiming for a result against PSG on Tuesday, looking to take advantage of the fact that they will be playing in front of a sold-out Anfield.
