The boss is aware of the intensity the fixture will create – starting tonight at Anfield – but feels no-one should allow that to numb their excitement at watching the Reds contest such prestigious games in the last eight of the competition.
He wrote in his column for ‘This is Anfield’: “There isn’t much I can say about Pep [Guardiola] as a person or professional that I haven’t said or written many times before. I think it is now clear that he is making the same impact in England that he did in Spain and Germany, in terms of creating a team that is capable of beauty and dominance.
“Pep raises the bar, but I think rather than just stand and applaud, our job at Liverpool is to keep focused on what we are doing to give ourselves the chance to jump even higher.
“That’s our job: worry about what we can affect, which is our own development as a team, and see where that takes us to. I look at our quality and I am excited about what is achievable for Liverpool, both for the rest of this campaign and the ones to come.
“Returning to the feelings around this game and tie specifically, I hope everyone involved can embrace the joy of being part of it, rather than allowing the intense focus to create pressure that numbs the excitement.
“I am someone who loves football. I have since being a very small child and I don’t envisage that changing until my last breath is taken. And what I love about football is that it offers all the most intense emotions and experiences for the period of time the game is being played and we all get to experience it together. It offers us collective joy, collective pain, collective tension and collective hope and belief.
“It brings a mass of people together, where in the split-second – the specific moment – we all experience and feel the same thing, at the same time. What I also love about football is nothing is decided before a ball is kicked and anything can happen.
“I have zero idea how many millions upon millions will be watching this around the world, on top of the 54,000 inside Anfield itself, but I think regardless of the final result this particular tie has potential to create some of those shared moments that are talked about for generations.
“Those of us blessed to be part of it in person tonight and then in Manchester the week after, should maybe take a moment to reflect on that. Embrace the intensity – embrace the positive emotions it creates.
“This tie is something that can bring joy and I hope at its conclusion we can look back and say it didn’t disappoint.”
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