After overcoming Manchester City in the quarter-final, the Reds were paired with AS Roma in the next stage of the tournament on Friday.
However, with a top-four place still to be clinched domestically – and with it, a guaranteed return to next season’s Champions League – Lovren is adamant no-one will be allowing their minds to wander, with Bournemouth arriving at Anfield later today.
“We know we are fighting for something still,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “Nothing is over and we know it is a massive game for us against Bournemouth.
“We need to secure the top-four spot for the Champions League next year and this is what keeps ourselves alive and awake.
“We know we have a couple of tough games again – we have Bournemouth, West Brom, Stoke and then Chelsea. In these next few games, we could finish it and then hopefully concentrate on the Champions League.”
On Friday, Jürgen Klopp spoke effusively about his respect for Bournemouth and the job Eddie Howe has done with the Cherries.
Such sentiments extend to the dressing room – and Lovren knows Liverpool will face an opponent who will be ready to battle at Anfield.
He said: “Bournemouth showed they are a team who want to play with the ball and they are not afraid of anything.
“We have shown we can play against them and won 4-0 earlier this season. They had a couple of chances before we scored the goals, so it’ll be a tough game.
“It won’t be easy to play, but we need to again show our character after such a massive game on Tuesday. People will ask how easy it’ll be to switch back to Bournemouth, but this is the Premier League – we are here to show we can do it week in, week out.
“We are learning from our mistakes and we are professionals – we know what we need to do.”