Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Liverpool and a legion of their fans have traveled to Basle earlier this week in a bid for European silverware in Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge. They’ve already tasted the disappointment of defeat in the Capital One Cup Final back in February, will it be second time lucky for the Merseysiders this season?
Standing in their way of not only silverware but a place in next season’s Champions League are holders Sevilla who are looking for an unprecedented hat-trick of wins in this competition and further enhance their record amount of Uefa Cup/Europa League trophies to 5
For Liverpool it’s Champions League or bust in terms of European Football next season after their 8th place finish in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp unsurprisingly named a reserve side for their draw away at West Brom on Sunday with the full focus being on masterminding European success
With a well rested side then the only key players that are missing are Mamadou Sahko through suspension and Divock Origi will be a late fitness test and could still make a dramatic return after the injury against Villarreal in the Semi Final
Tonight’s result will pretty much define the season in terms of how Klopp’s tenure has been so far, a win over Sevilla and it’s an undoubted success while defeat will point to Klopp still having some work to do in terms of getting his own stamp on the squad. A lot rests on this game not just for Tonight but for next season also
A win would mean that they will be dining at Europe’s top table and with that they all off a sudden become a much more attractive propositions to players when it comes to chasing their signature. For example Mario Gotze just may well be tempted to Anfield should the Champions League anthem ring round the world famous stadium
But in facing Sevilla it’s not going to be easy, they have undoubted pedigree in this tournament and are also chasing a spot in the Champions League thanks to victory in Switzerland this evening. They had to do make do with a 7th place finish this season but unlike Liverpool they have secured a Europa League return safety net should they not win in Basel
They didn’t prepare in the best possible way with a 3-1 defeat to Athletic Bilbao at the weekend but with European qualification already assured the result wouldn’t have been too much concern for Unai Emery as the main focus would have no doubt been on the matchup with Liverpool
The danger men for Sevilla will be French Striker Kevin Gamiero and former World Cup winner Fernando Llorente while expect Ukrainian winger Yehven Konoplyanka to provide the firepower to the attack line, he was on the losing side in last years winner final for Dnipro so he will be looking to go one better this time around
Without sitting on the fence I reckon this tie could go either way. Liverpool have the effortlessly cool Jurgen Klopp but Sevilla are no slouches and the fact they have won the 2014 and 2015 editions of the competitions speaks for itself. I reckon it goes to extra time and then it’s anybody guess. If you are neutral then sit back and relax as you should be in for a treat.
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
