Liverpool Want To Win Champions League For Jurgen Klopp – Xherdan Shaqiri
Xherdan Shaqiri says that Liverpool are aiming to win the Champions League for Jurgen Klopp ahead of the final against Tottenham this weekend.
The two English sides will meet at Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday night, with both managers looking to win the first trophies of their respective reigns.
Since his arrival at Anfield in 2015, Klopp has suffered heartbreak in three major finals, with a 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in last year’s European showpiece marking the Reds’ latest failure.
Liverpool have been a stronger force this season, however, narrowly missing out on the Premier League title by a single point behind Manchester City while embarking on other impressive Champions League run.
Klopp’s men dispatched Bayern Munich and FC Porto to qualify for the semi-finals, before knocking Barcelona out of the competition with a stunning 4-0 win at Anfield on May 7.
Ahead of this year’s final in Madrid, Shaqiri has hailed the German head coach for his impact at Liverpool, insisting that the players are ready to “give everything” to bring some silverware back to Anfield in his honour.
“He is always relaxed,” Shaqiri told talkSPORT.
“We are always having fun during and after training. He’s a positive person.
“He does everything for us and we give everything for him. We want to win it for him.”
The Switzerland international feels the Reds “deserve” to lift the European Cup after a dramatic campaign which has seen the Merseyside outfit make great strides forward.
He added: “I think we had a great season and there is one big final ahead of us. We’ll try everything to win this title because the club deserves it, the fans deserve it and the players deserve it. It’ll be a really special thing if we win it.
“Tottenham is a top team. They showed the world how good they are.
“It’ll be a difficult game, but we’re confident. It’s only 90 minutes and anything can happen.”
Shaqiri won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013 and he is in line to feature against Tottenham after starting in the last-four triumph over Barca.
When asked if the all-English encounter is the biggest game of his career to date, the 27-year-old responded: “It’s difficult to say, it’s one of the biggest because it’s a special game.
“I want this emotional thing again. Especially for this club because they’re waiting a long time to win it.”