Jurgen Klopp spoke to reporters in Austria on Monday evening ahead of Liverpool’s final Champions League group stage fixture against Salzburg.
The reigning European champions are in first place in Group E, however, they remain in a precarious position with Napoli and Salzburg both looking to trounce them in the standings.
The Reds trained at Melwood at Monday lunch-time before catching a flight to Austria, with the squad later visiting the Red Bull Arena to take in the stadium.
The Liverpool manager reinforced how important the game was during his pre-match press conference, urging his side to overcome the “fear not to make it” to the knockout stages.
“Firstly, I’m not nervous but I have a special kind of tension because it’s a very special situation,” Klopp said.
“If something is important for you, you want to reach that goal. But with years you learn how to deal with that stress and that you won’t die of those tense situations!
“I have made many important games in my life, yes, and I have also lost many important games, but fortunately in the last years it went better.
“The development of Salzburg is a great development they’ve had, I have to say. I have already complimented them for many years.
“I think it’s going in the right direction; there has been a big influence of Ralf Rangnick, of course, and I am also very proud and very happy for my former player Marco Rose, that he did a great job here.
“I have interest in this club, I think it’s great what they do, they create a lot of opportunities for young players, for young people – not only in football, but in other sports and that’s an interesting thing about them.
“They fought for very long years to get to the Champions League and now they have the opportunity to go to the knockout stage and that’s a great chance.
“I know this situation also causes a lot of fear not to make it, so who can overcome this fear best will make it to the next phase.”
The boss also confirmed Dejan Lovren and Gini Wijnaldum should be in contention to face Salzburg, after the duo both travelled with the rest of the 19-man squad.
