Liverpool have been given a major defensive boost ahead of Monday's clash with Manchester United after centre-back Dejan Lovren and right-back Nathaniel Clyne returned to training.
Jacob Murtagh in the Mirror reported the defensive duo's potential return to action, with both having missed out on representing their countries during the recent international break.
Croatia international Lovren, 27, picked up a knock in Liverpool's last outing against Swansea City, while Clyne missed out on facing Malta and Slovenia with England.
Given that Liverpool's back line remains the weak link in their side, manager Jurgen Klopp will be desperate for Lovren and Clyne both to be available for the United clash at Anfield as the Reds go for a fifth Premier League win on the bounce.
Clyne is Liverpool's undisputed starting right-back, and there is little genuine cover for him in the position.
Meanwhile, despite Klopp adding Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan to his centre-back options in the summer, Lovren remains a key part of the defence and has started five of the Reds' seven Premier League matches in 2016-17, perWhoScored.
Lovren has had his critics since joining Liverpool from Southampton in 2014, but he has played a key role under Klopp.
The Croatia international is an increasingly reliable presence at the back, and given Liverpool's overall weaknesses in defence, he is something of a stalwart in the defensive line.
There is cover available for him, with Matip, Klavan, Mamadou Sakho and even Lucas Leiva able to drop into the middle of defence.
But Klopp will be delighted to see Lovren return to fitness as Liverpool look to continue their excellent start to the new campaign.
For many people, Liverpool's 4-3 victory over Arsenal was an opening-day Premier League classic. It had all the excitement that is associated with the English top flight, an abundance of skill on show and enough goals to satisfy the shortest of attention spans.
It also exposed the shortcomings in a league where defending is becoming a lost art and pointed to the paucity of on-field leadership at two of England's biggest clubs.
Last season, Leicester City won the title with a gameplan based around a rugged, unspectacular back four, a midfield who worked to screen those behind them and a rapid-response counterattack.
The blueprint worked because players like Kasper Schmeichel, Robert Huth, Danny Drinkwater and Jamie Vardy took responsibility, constantly urging their teammates on: encouraging them when needed, criticising them when necessary. Leicester, in short, had a backbone.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool have an abundance of forward-going talent but struggled when backpedalling. Each team can point to absent defenders. Arsenal were missing Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista but few would say with any confidence that these three centre backs would have transformed the game.
Arsenal's defensive problems are systemic: Their full-backs regularly overcommit and leave the central defenders isolated, while their midfielders give little thought to the destructive side of the game.
There are other problems for Arsene Wenger to address. When Philippe Coutinho went down in a heap after being set free on goal with a quarter of the game left and Arsenal trailing 4-1, there was a lengthy break while the Brazilian was treated and then substituted.
The home crowd at the Emirates was quiet and subdued but they seemed rowdy compared with Wenger's players. This was a perfect opportunity for the team to take stock, rouse each other and demand more effort. Instead, the Arsenal players seemed wrapped up in their own thoughts and there was little communication between individuals.
Graeme Souness, a formidable leader during his playing career, called the Gunners "a team of son-in-laws" last season. Wenger has proved that nice guys don't finish last. Arsenal are a top-four staple, yet it takes something else -- a streak of nastiness, an unpleasant competitiveness -- to deliver titles and Champions Leagues.
Arsenal do not have it and, on the evidence of the past decade, Wenger does not know where to find it in the transfer market. When things go wrong for the Gunners their meekness, not their ability, comes to the fore.
Arsenal and Liverpool must tighten up defensively if they are to have success this season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, lack character and the sort of intangible presence a leader brings. Jurgen Klopp is still finding his feet at Anfield but, amid the positive signs, there are indications that some of the long-term problems persist. Under Fenway Sports Group's ownership, Liverpool have targeted young players but youth rarely comes packaged up with leadership.
When things are going well for Klopp's side they swarm forward with conviction but they are susceptible to swings in momentum. When they are under pressure they can display an ugly, every-man-for-himself attitude. Like Arsenal, Liverpool's seems to be a dressing-room without many natural leaders.
In the short term, more defensive organisation would improve Liverpool. Their vulnerability at set pieces will worry Klopp but this is a problem that should be solved on the training ground.
Dejan Lovren's tendency to be sucked out of position needs to be addressed and the left-back position is a real problem. James Milner will replace Alberto Moreno in the role as soon as the Englishman is fit, which sets up the bizarre situation where one of the club's highest earners is playing on the left side of defence. If that is not proof that things are still out of kilter at Anfield then nothing is.
The last two teams to win the title -- Chelsea and Leicester -- got the balance right, mixing defence and attack, character and talent. Liverpool and Arsenal seem lopsided by comparison, while Pep Guardiola's Manchester City do not seem secure at the back, either. It will take time at the Etihad to get the right blend.
Leicester's Premier League win was underpinned by six 1-0 victories in 2016. The key to success in an increasingly competitive competition will be the teams that can grind out results.
Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur put a premium on defending and should become more adept at killing games off this season. Antonio Conte is making solidity his top priority at Chelsea and intends his defence to be mean. Jose Mourinho is as obsessed with tightening Manchester United up at the back as he is proving his critics wrong. Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United all look less fragile than Arsenal and Liverpool.
It will be tight at the top in the Premier League this season but Arsenal and Liverpool will need to tighten up at the back if they are to be involved in the title race. It will be hard to defend Wenger or Klopp if their teams leak goals as easily as they did at the Emirates.
Linking up with Jurgen Klopp and his new Liverpool team-mates on Saturday, centre-back Joel Matip is hoping to add goals not just stop them.
The Cameroon international joins the Reds on a free transfer, after 16 years with Bundesliga outfit Schalke, and took part in the first training sessions of pre-season this weekend.
Though still only 24, Matip has seven seasons of top-flight experience, and Liverpool supporters will relish his strong defensive presence at the back.
“I’m a defender, in the air and on the ground, and I’m always looking to play in front,” he told LFCTV on his arrival, “and I’m always good for a few goals.”
Matip will join Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez as Klopp’s centre-back options for 2016/17, but unlike his new team-mates his ability to find the back of the net is particularly useful.
During his time with Schalke, Matip scored 23 goals in 258 appearances, including a header against Bayern Munich on his debut for the club in 2011.
In his final season with the club in 2015/16, he scored four goals, more than Sakho and Lovren combined (three), and one fewer than the Premier League’s top-scoring centre-back, Scott Dann.
His best goal tally for a single campaign came in 2011/12, when he netted five times in 47 appearances.
Only two centre-backs have scored more than 23 goals in Premier League history, in John Terry (40) and William Gallas (25), while Sami Hyypia remains the Reds’ highest-scoring centre-back in the English top flight, with 22.
Matip’s goalscoring prowess is largely indebted to his aerial ability, with the versatile talent’s 6’5″ frame allowing him to dominate in both penalty areas.
Though Lovren and Sakho both scored crucial headers for the Reds in 2015/16, most notably the former’s winning strike against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-finals, Matip’s presence is much-needed.
The dust is starting to settle. The rain, so relentless that night in Basel, has finally ceased. After a long puff of the cheeks, it is now time for assessment.
Jurgen Klopp’s first seven months in charge at Liverpool sped by. Full throttle, he called it, at his unveiling in October. How right he was. Thirty nine players, 52 games, 104 press conferences, two finals.
One big assessment needed.
Football is desperate for snap decisions; hot takes, as the kids call them. Little is left to breathe any more, with a huge rush to pass judgement.
So it has proven. The German has been with the club less than a year, but statements are already being made – the vast majority of them in favour, in truth.
Rightly so. The improvement at Anfield since his arrival is evident. The Reds needed a change after Brendan Rodgers lost both the fans’ belief and his own; Klopp was a blockbuster acquisition, a no-brainer of an appointment to excite, unite, and begin what FSG hopes is the club’s ascension back to the top.
It hasn’t been easy, and it never will be. A few bumps on the way, and a few still ahead. There has been plenty to appreciate, but a fair bit to criticise, too.
Some are reticent to throw criticism towards Klopp, choosing to lay most of the blame at the boots of the players he sends out on to the field.
The Liverpool boss wouldn’t entertain that. Speaking after the Europa League final defeat, he left no illusion where blame laid. “My situation as manager of the team is that all I have to do is self-criticise, nothing else,” he said. “It is all about us, all about me. It is my job to help the players to react in different situations better. I can improve a lot.”
A noble thought, but unwarranted, too. What happened in Switzerland, and during other low points in the season, deserved a fairer attribution of blame. Klopp could have done a few things better and he didn’t get everything right – but neither did his players.
If only others followed his example. Any criticism of Klopp is usually deflected on to the players; rarely is it attributed to the man in the dugout. The German himself would not want that and perhaps that character – his loyalty, humility and honesty – absolves him of such scrutiny.
There are caveats and mitigating circumstances, of course. Any critique is followed by a huge but; Klopp has had just seven months in charge, with a squad he did not choose, with an unprecedented injury crisis and hectic fixture list.
Still, 2015-16 brought both good and bad. Klopp did things well, and others not so well.
Klopp and Mignolet
What Klopp did well
Unity and identity on the pitch: Klopp arrived at a club whose direction was unclear. On the field, there was no defined style of play; a collective of individuals, rather than a team. Off the field, it was just as unclear. Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke arrived in the same summer, with no real indication of whether short-term or long-term mattered more.
Enter the German. He came with a reputation of playing a certain style of football, and a clear identity off the field, too. Liverpool would now be a club that looks to nurture top talent with a high-intensity, complex pressing game.
While Rodgers had lost the crowd by the end of his tenure, Klopp had found them. While Rodgers had lost sight of what he wanted to do at Anfield, Klopp came with a clear vision. In less than a season, the implementation of that has begun. There is no question how the Reds, and Klopp, plan to achieve success – it is now about whether they can carry it out.
Instilling a never-say-die attitude: The comeback against Borussia Dortmund was incredible. “If you read it in a book you think [it is] nice but it is really rare,” said Klopp after the 4-3 win.
But in truth, it was only following a script Klopp had started to write on Merseyside. The Reds had come from behind to beat Chelsea, Norwich and Crystal Palace, as well as saving points against West Brom and Arsenal. It was the thrilling 5-4 win at Carrow Road in January that truly set the standard, a manic end which included two goals in stoppage time. Liverpool, so often accused of lacking character, have developed a real drive to turn things around.
Klopp and players salute the Kop
Implemented signs of pressing style: Gegenpressing was the buzz word around Anfield. Articles – tens, hundreds, thousands – contained the word in an attempt to explain and examine Klopp’s preferred style of football at Borussia Dortmund.
There have been signs of that working at Liverpool. Some of the pressing has been electric, with the likes of Firmino, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, James Milner and Divock Origi demonstrating how effective it can be if utilised correctly. Klopp’s side now runs harder, and smarter, than it did do previously.
Given the obstacles Klopp has faced this season in terms of training time, it is impressive how some have embraced his hard-running, intense style. No wonder there is optimism surrounding next season, with more time at Melwood a given after failure to qualify for Europe.
Brought the best out of high-profile players: Towards the end of Rodgers’ time at the club, some of the so-called big names were not performing to expected levels, while others were simply not performing. As such, the transfer windows of both 2014 and 2015 were being regarded as unmitigated failures, the club’s recruitment policy coming under scrutiny.
Klopp, however, has managed to get a tune out of a group of players he didn’t sign. Can now has a defined role and position, and looks much better for it; so, too, the barnstorming Origi. Firmino, after finding adaptation to English football hard, ended the season in double figures; Lallana and Dejan Lovren, bought from Southampton, have started to repay some of the £45m spent on them with much better showings.
Add that to how some of the Academy stars have progressed – Sheyi Ojo and Brad Smith two that spring to mind – and Klopp’s arrival has raised the level of performance substantially.
Reconnected the disconnected: Klopp spoke with sadness in November after his first league defeat as Liverpool boss. The 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace was a kick to the sternum for him, mainly because of how the home crowd reaction. “I felt pretty alone at this moment,” he said afterwards, reflecting on how fans departed Anfield after Palace’s second on 82 minutes.
A month later, he and the players raised their arms in front of the Kop. He was mocked for such a celebratory gesture after the 2-2 draw with West Brom, but the symbolism was clear – supporters had stayed until the end to cheer, and were rewarded with Origi’s late equaliser.
It is still not a perfect relationship, but a fire has been reignited within the crowd, lit by the excellent Europa League run. The atmospheres against Manchester United, Dortmund and Villarreal were to savour.
It might not quite be Westfalenstadion yet, and the relationship is still in the rebuilding stage, but Klopp has helped mend the bond between fans and players.
Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool shows his dejection at the final whistle v Sevilla
What Klopp did not do well
Holding on to a lead: As good as Liverpool were at fighting back from behind, they also tossed away plenty of points from winning positions. Sunderland (albeit Klopp was in hospital recovering from appendicitis), Southampton and Newcastle saw the Reds relinquish two-goal leads. If they would have held on to them in all three games, they would have finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League.
The character of the side – lauded when they manage to come back from behind – has been criticised, but there is also a sense Klopp must look at halting negative momentum sooner. Granted, he does not have a squad he built, but there have been opportunities to bring an extra body on in midfield, or even a different sort of striker, to gain more control over a game.
Defending as a team: When the pressing and counter-pressing works, it is a daunting prospect for the opposition. When it doesn’t, however, the door is open to take advantage.
By Klopp’s own admission, such a complex pressing system needs full concentration from every player on the pitch. Everybody needs to play their part. At times this season, gaps have opened up, and Liverpool have been far too susceptible on the counter attack.
There have been individual errors – Simon Mignolet the main culprit, with six in the Premier League – but it is a collective effort, too.
It would be lazy to suggest Klopp could be troubled if his tactics are ‘found out’ – a manager of his quality is always adapting, always innovating – but there are times when Liverpool’s counter-press is less effective. What happens when, for example, the opposition allow the Reds to have 70% of the ball? It is something Klopp will be pondering this summer.
Bring tangible league improvement: There are the caveats. There are the mitigating circumstances. Yet, the reality cannot be shirked: Liverpool ended the season in eighth place, with two unsuccessful cup finals to boot.
Of course, Liverpool’s league form was impacted by their run to the Europa League final. It is doubtful results such as Newcastle (2-2), Swansea (1-3) or West Brom (1-1) would have occurred if the Reds were not prioritising European glory.
That still does not account for other limp performances, particularly Newcastle (0-2), Watford (0-3) and West Ham (0-2). The end result, ultimately, is that Klopp’s points-per-game ratio of 1.6 is only 0.1 better off than Rodgers.
That means nothing alone, and seasons should not be judged on such arbitrary measures. But ultimately, Liverpool ended in their joint-lowest position since they were promoted back to the top-flight in 1963. In fact, it was only the fourth time in that 53-year period the Reds finished eighth.
A trophy was so agonisingly close, and would have brought Champions League football as well. As it is, Klopp begins his first full season looking to improve massively on this season’s final showing.
Set pieces: Liverpool’s defence has been a curious beast this season. Lovren has been transformed into a good option at the back, while Mamadou Sakho – before his UEFA suspension – was becoming a real hero of the Kop. In some games, they, along with their team-mates, have looked solid and dependable. In others, not so much.
Yet one issue continues to rear its head for Klopp – set-pieces. Time after time, the Reds find themselves in difficult situations due to their inability to deal with balls into the box. After the 5-4 win at Norwich, he said: “Of course we know about this problem, I’m sorry to say it’s not a problem we can ignore.”
It hasn’t really improved, though. It isn’t much better at the other end, either, scoring just six from set-piece situations. The biggest demonstration, perhaps, of how Klopp needs a proper pre-season and time on the training pitch with his side.
Klopp and his squad at Melwood
Sevilla: The Europa League final cannot be ignored as a whole. Indeed, it was a collective show of what hasn’t worked this season. The relinquishing of a lead, the defensive lapses, the inability to grasp any semblance of control in the football game.
Part of it was the players. Moreno had a half to forget, but he was not alone as the Reds toiled against the Spanish side. But Klopp also did little to arrest the slump, waiting too long to make a substitution and leaving Joe Allen, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson on the bench as Sevilla went 3-1 ahead. One of those midfielders could have, potentially, halted the Sevilla momentum.
Instead, everything remained the same and Unai Emery’s men scored three in 25 minutes, wrestling the trophy from Liverpool’s grasp.
Klopp was keen to accept responsibility after the game; too much of it, undoubtedly. He will be even keener to put that right next season.
Coke of Sevilla and Alberto Moreno of Liverpool compete for the ball.
Another English Premier League season is in the books, which means it’s time for everyone’s favorite offseason activity: speculation! As we know, silly season will soon officially be upon us as clubs from all over the world attempt to improve their squad for the upcoming campaign—whether through addition by subtraction or the more conventional route: spending that sweet, sweet Premier League money.
Over the next couple months we’ll go through each EPL side, identifying their strengths and weaknesses while pointing out which player(s) they likely cannot afford to lose. Will the names always be notable? Perhaps not, but that doesn’t make them any less important.
It hasn’t always been easy for the Saints of Southampton, but when Mauricio Pochettino led the club to an eighth-place finish with 56 points in 2013, it was just the beginning. That can be held in both a positive and negative light, however.
For countless years, Southampton has had an excellent youth academy. They’ve produced numerous notable talents along the way, plenty of whom have helped them develop a strong standing in the English Premier League recently. But then they sell, because Southampton is still looked at as a small club or a stepping stone.
Ronald Koeman took over in 2014 when Pochettino departed to Tottenham Hotspur, and in his first season led the Saints to a seventh-place finish with a club-record 60 points. They entered into Europa League qualification, but couldn’t get past the second round playoff. As for their league form in 2015, Koeman’s squad had a forgettable first half of the season. All that went away when Southampton cruised to sixth in the league in the second half, breaking their previous record for points yet again.
Now they’ve qualified for the Europa League group stages, which marked another feat. It’s the first time in club history they’ve done so. So what does the summer hold? Is it another window of selling their best? Well, it could be even worse than that.
Is Ronald Koeman Next To Go?
Though they haven’t played like it in recent seasons, Everton is a bigger club than Southampton. Despite consecutive 11th place finishes in the past two seasons, Everton is a bigger club than Southampton. Is Everton the next club for current Saints boss Ronald Koeman? Or, will he wait for an ever better opportunity to come along?
Many thought Southampton would fade a little when Pochettino left, but the Saints have only become stronger under his watch. But again, is Southampton simply a stepping stone? Well…
Stop Selling Everyone
When the calendar hit July 15, 2015, the club had sold £135.5 million worth of talent within 12 months. And no, they didn’t have a Gareth Bale to sell for a ludicrous fee. Not anymore, anyway. Luke Shaw and Morgan Schneiderlin went to Manchester United. Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, and Nathaniel Clyne went to Liverpool. Calum Chambers went to Arsenal, and Jack Cork went to Swansea City.
Will it ever end?
Multiple clubs (including Liverpool again) are rumored to be monitoring goal-scorers Shane Long and Sadio Mané—though the latter would most definitely come at an inflated price. Not only is Mané still just 24 years old, but Southampton are playing European football now. They don’t have to sell everybody anymore. They should hold off on doing so for as long as possible. But if Koeman goes, who knows?
In some instances, it might be out of their control. Such is the case with holding midfielder and overall powerhouse Victor Wanyama. The 24-year-old allegedly wanted a move last summer, but agreed to stay one more season under the condition that he could look to play elsewhere the following year.
The biggest downside to all of Southampton’s selling is that it almost always occurs within the Premier League. They might not be selling to genuine rivals, but they are almost assuredly selling them to bigger and better clubs, making the competition directly above them even stronger while making it more difficult on themselves to take the next step.
If Southampton want to remain “quietly successful”, they have to minimize the damage. They can’t undergo another summer like 2014. They made it out then in one piece, but that’s not something you can bank on every time.
Final Thoughts
The Saints are in Europe again. Not only did they finish just three points back of United, but they also topped clubs like West Ham, Liverpool, and Chelsea en route to their best EPL season in club history. They’ve improved in three consecutive seasons.
With Leicester City winning the league and the likes of Southampton showing that the Foxes aren’t the only small club that should be taken seriously, the last couple seasons in England have been a breath of fresh air.
The big question is: If another summer exodus is upon them, will it all go stale? Or, will Southampton start putting their foot down?
Croatia coach Ante Cacic said Tuesday that Dejan Lovren will miss Euro 2016 due to the Liverpool's defender ultimatum that he be guaranteed a starting place before accepting to go to France.
"I already said when appointed as coach that the Croatia squad is above any individual. I will not give up that view for anyone," Cacic said in a statement.
"In Croatia's locker room there is no place for ultimatums, there should be respect for the Croatian jersey, teammates and coach," added Cacic, who was appointed last September.
The statement on the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) official website was issued after Cacic's visit to Britain at the weekend during which he met with Lovren.
"We spoke openly and honestly about his status in the squad, the match in Hungary and the interview in which he voiced his dissatisfaction and delivered certain ultimatums."
The row between the two started during a friendly with Hungary in March when Lovren decided to return to the substitutes' bench early when asked to warm up. That was seen as a protest for not being in the starting line-up and angered Cacic.
Earlier this month the 26-year-old defender told a local daily that if the coach did not guarantee him a spot in the starting XI, he would not go to France.
Cacic voiced hope that Lovren would "accept the decision in a mature manner and realise that even the best players put themselves in the service of the collective first and then think about themselves".
With such a view "there would be a place for him among the 'Fiery Ones' in future", he concluded in reference to the squad.
Croatia will play in Group D alongside the Czech Republic, Spain and Turkey.
London: It was perhaps inevitable that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool would produce their most Borussia Dortmund-like performance at the home of his former club.
In last week's Europa League quarter-final first leg at the Westfalenstadion, Klopp watched his Liverpool players press and harry like the Dortmund team he steered to the highest echelon of the European game.
If historical precedents are to be believed, the 1-1 final score gives Liverpool a 74 percent chance of progressing, and the nature of their display revealed the extent to which Klopp's methods have taken hold.
"I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought we would lose 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0," said Klopp, whose side tackle Dortmund at Anfield in Thursday's return leg.
"But at some moments we had Dortmund, and around our goal we were brilliant."
The sight of Klopp on the touchline -- squawking at his players, pumping his fist in celebration of Divock Origi's first-half goal -- will have been immediately familiar to Dortmund's fans, who granted him a touching send-off at the final whistle.
So too the tactics employed by his team, whose aggressive, front-foot approach prevented the home side from settling into any kind of rhythm and whose counter-attacks kept the Dortmund rearguard on constant alert.
While Dortmund have become more of a possession-based team under Klopp's successor, Thomas Tuchel -- the legacy of the new status his seven-year tenure left them with -- Liverpool are exhibiting the same underdog mentality upon which he built his success in the Ruhr valley.
Speaking earlier this season, former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson said the team's best performances were "reminiscent of Borussia Dortmund at their best under Jurgen Klopp".
Klopp readily bestowed trust upon the players he inherited at Dortmund, with seven of the 18 players he called up for his first game, a 3-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen in August 2008, featuring in the squad that faced Bayern Munich in the Champions League final five years later.
- 'High-intensity games' -
He seems similarly determined to extract every ounce of quality from the Liverpool players at his disposal.
The occasionally maligned centre-back pairing of Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren performed with sturdy resolve in the first leg, while Origi is flourishing after a difficult start to his time at the club.
"He always believed in me and he believes in the group also," said the 20-year-old Belgian striker, who followed up his goal at Dortmund with a brace in Sunday's 4-1 defeat of Stoke City.
"The fact that I'm on the pitch gives me confidence and I just try to play my game and enjoy it."
Hard-working players like Adam Lallana, Emre Can and James Milner have also earned Klopp's trust and are striving to show that they can become to him what hardy perennials like Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer and Jakub Blaszczykowski were at Dortmund.
Milner, captain in the absence of the injured Jordan Henderson, is relishing the challenge of playing teams like Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur, held 1-1 at Anfield recently, who play with a similar high-tempo approach.
"It's nice to keep getting the games," Milner said of Liverpool's busy schedule. "They have been high-intensity games as well -- Dortmund and Spurs play at a high tempo.
"That's good for us as it keeps us at that intensity we want to play at. We know if we play at that intensity, that's when we have our best matches."
If Dortmund are to prove themselves worthy favourites for the trophy, Tuchel must find a way to withstand the red tide when the teams resume hostilities on Thursday.
Dortmund's supporters will know exactly what is coming their way.
Liverpool picked up a controversial victory on Sunday afternoon, as they beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park thanks to Christian Benteke's late penalty.
The Reds were coming into the game off the back of a superb 3-0 win over Manchester City in midweek, but fell behind early into the second half against Palace, as Joe Ledley opened the scoring before James Milner was sent off for Liverpool, giving them a tough task with just ten men.
However, Roberto Firmino capitalised on Alex McCarthy's poor kick, sliding the ball home after a costly error from the Palace goalkeeper - and then the match became shrouded in controversy.
Christian Benteke went down under minimal contact from Palace defender Damien Delaney, and the referee awarded Liverpool an injury-time penalty, which Benteke stepped up to score, handing Jurgen Klopp's men a 96th minute winner.
The Benteke situation has been dominating the post-match conversation, but Liverpool fans instead focused on the performance of defender Dejan Lovren.
The Croatian international has been inconsistent at the best of times since signing from Southampton back in the summer of 2014, but he enjoyed a superb performance against Palace on Sunday.
Liverpool fans took to Twitter to praise Lovren, suggesting that it was the centre back's best performance for the club so far, and looked forward to his partnership with imminent signing Joel Matip, who arrives from Schalke this summer.
Supporters also noted that Lovren has improved since Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss back in October, and believe he is finally repaying the fee Liverpool paid for him almost two years ago.
Here are some of the reactions from Liverpool fans on Twitter after Lovren's performance against Crystal Palace on Sunday...
As Liverpool battled back to win 2-1 away to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, Dejan Lovren and Emre Can were the players to stand out.
Despite conceding a goal early on in the second half at Selhurst Park, with Joe Ledley powering home a loose ball, Liverpool produced a resolute defensive display in Sunday’s 2-1 victory.
This included strong turns from Lovren, alongside Mamadou Sakho at centre-back, and Can, who shone in his role at the heart of the midfield.
These dominant showings earned Lovren and Can a shared Man of the Match award as supporters rated Liverpool’s performances after the game.
The pair currently boast a rating of 7.8 each, 0.6 more than any player.
Match-winner Christian Benteke, who won and converted the deciding penalty at the death, comes closest to Lovren and Can, rated at 7.3, showing intent in a central attacking role.
Just behind Benteke comes the striker’s compatriot, Simon Mignolet, with 7.2, and fellow forward Roberto Firmino, with 7.1.
Remarkably, no other player has been rated above 6.9, with Adam Lallana‘s 6.3, Alberto Moreno‘s 6.2 and Divock Origi‘s 6.5 perhaps an indication of the changing landscape of the contest.
Sent off on the hour mark, after two yellow-card offences, James Milner is currently rated at a dismal 4.1, while his midfield colleague, Jordan Henderson, has a rating of 5.2.
Jurgen Klopp‘s starting lineup are rated at an average of 6.4, 1.4 below their average rating from Wednesday night’s 3-0 win at home to Manchester City.
But with the likes of Can and Lovren in a defiant mood at Selhurst Park, Liverpool were able to battle to victory.
