Jurgen Klopp Opens Up on Champions League Reunion With Philippe Coutinho Ahead of Crunch Semi

Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho’s return to Anfield in the Champions League semi-finals will be ‘special’ for both the players and the club. 

Klopp’s Reds stormed past Porto on Wednesday night, beating the Portuguese side 4-1 to seal a routine 6-1 aggregate win. 

Suarez left Merseyside almost five years ago after the Reds’ last title challenge, while Coutinho headed for Catalunya in January 2018 in a move which made him the third most expensive footballer of all time. 

He said, quoted by ?The Metro: “For them [Coutinho and Suarez], for these two boys, it’s very special. For us, it’s special. They are both Liverpool legends, that’s brilliant.”

Despite the undeniable brilliance of the two, Liverpool will go into the tie with a real chance of reaching their second European final in two seasons – this time without Loris Karius between the sticks. 

The man standing between the Reds and the Wanda Metropolitano is Lionel Messi, whose two goals on Tuesday night killed any chance Manchester United had of facing their old Premier KLeague rivals in the semis. 

Klopp admitted that he was grateful to have a little time before having to think about stopping the Argentine, adding: “Thank God I don’t have to think about that tonight. I have a few more nights to think about that. So many teams tried [to stop Messi] but nobody really did it. We have so many jobs to do before we meet Barcelona though. Let’s first play these games and we will see.”

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