Jürgen Klopp: ‘Wham, two finals – it’s the most exciting time of my career’

It is little surprise that Jürgen Klopp is enjoying the time of his life as he prepares to lead Liverpool into a season-defining week. The German has the exciting possibility of lifting the Premier League and Champions League in the space of six days. Real Madrid are the opposition in Paris next Saturday but Manchester City stand in the way of Klopp and Liverpool first, and the challenge is an exciting one for a man who has already won one Premier League and two Bundesliga titles. The weekly battle to match Pep Guardiola’s side is keeping Klopp invigorated, knowing he and his team have been consistently at their best.

Klopp knows the pain of 2018-19 when City pipped Liverpool to top spot. Once again it goes down to the final day of the season, with Liverpool realistically needing to beat Wolves and for City to drop points against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had a few exciting times,” Klopp said. “If you ask my missus she asks why [does it] always go down to the last match. It happens incredibly often.

“It’s the most exciting because seeing how good the boys are and seeing the steps that we’ve made and just two games to go. It’s unbelievable. It feels like five minutes ago it was seven games. Now, wham, here we go to two finals. We’ve played finals since ages, but now it’s really two finals. It’s absolutely massive. It’s the most exciting time of my career.”

A 12-point gap has been cut to one to set up a tantalising final day. There is the prospect of losing the league on goal difference or by a single point, which would only highlight how good Manchester City have been to beat Liverpool to the title. There will be no shame for Klopp if he does not collect his second Premier League title