Jurgen Klopp press conference: Liverpool boss on how to stop Erling Haaland, fixture congestion and Champions League clash vs RB Salzburg
The Reds will qualify for the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition if they avoid defeat in Austria on Tuesday.
To do so, they will have to successfully deal with Haaland, who has netted eight Champions League goals this term – only Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski has scored more (10).
The Norway international, 19, came off the bench to score against Liverpool in his side’s 4-3 defeat at Anfield last month.
Klopp said: “I had a time when I had Lewandowski in my [Dortmund] team, they didn’t listen to anything else in the press conference.
“I wish you could find something else you could talk about. How do you defend a very good striker? Try and stop balls into the box. He is a really big talent.
“He is 19 years old and is a very good striker, so how do you defend him? Try to make sure he doesn’t get many balls. He is a big, big talent.
“Like the best strikers, you try to cut the ball from them. But he’s not the only strong player they have.”
Below are the best bits from Klopp’s pre-match press conference…