The Reds' Group B campaign gets under way at Anfield on Wednesday night, when the finalists of the 2005 and 2007 editions of the tournament meet again.
Klopp fielded questions on an array of subjects while previewing the match with the world's media.
Read on for a summary of the boss' press conference...
On the history of Champions League finals between the clubs and the sense of occasion he gets from this tie…
Of course, 2005 I have more in my mind than 2007! But anyway if you think of any kind of European battles then I think Liverpool and AC Milan is a must-watch. It’s one you want to see. Milan was now not in the Champions League for a few years but are doing really well since around one-and-a-half years. They played a brilliant last season, ended up second [in Serie A] and started this season really good as well. It will be for sure a very tough game for both sides, but yeah, there are a few nice games obviously on this first matchday in the Champions League and Liverpool v AC Milan is for sure one of them.
On how difficult it will be to progress from Group B, with Atletico Madrid and FC Porto also involved…
Difficult! Thank God for all four teams [it is tough]. I think when we all saw the draw not one of us said, ‘Oh my God, what a great group, let’s go for it!’ It’s just a tough group, come on, we don’t have to lie. Atletico, wow. Porto, usually champion in Portugal, if not then second, so top, top team. AC Milan, big history, in the best moment for years. So yeah, that’s proper Champions League. We obviously worked really hard to be part of that and that’s what we get, we are part of the Champions League… it’s all about getting enough points to get through that group and we better not waste time, so we should start with that tomorrow night. It’s a long time ago that we have a Champions League game at home. We had now the opportunity to experience again the atmosphere Anfield is able to produce in the Premier League, but we spoke a lot in the past - rightly so - about European nights at Anfield and I can’t wait to experience that now. It will be great and I am really looking forward to it.
On Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic…
Zlatan, what a player, what a player! I think I saw a few videos of him when he got injured a few months ago or whenever it was and then I saw him early enough on the spinning bike, saw him fighting back and saying, ‘Lion’s don’t rest long’ or whatever. And he is always right. He came on in the last game after quite a long time and scored immediately. He’s a man for exceptional moments in a game, if he is not playing then probably Olivier Giroud is playing or [Ante] Rebic is playing or whoever. They are all slightly different profile but all really good so it will be absolutely interesting. But Zlatan is for sure one of the best ever players in this game. He knows that and he says that to everybody – I like that about him. That’s the confidence he brings in all the games. That he is still physically that fit is absolutely incredible and just shows that maybe some careers ended too early because there was maybe a little bit of fuel in the tank and he squeezes, obviously, every drop out of his body and wants to stay in the game as long as possible, and rightly so. He is absolutely capable to play in each league in the world still, and that is absolutely exceptional.
On whether he watched Emma Raducanu’s US Open tennis triumph…
I watched the game, the final, and it was absolutely impressive. It’s long ago that I watched a full tennis game, it’s long ago that I watched a full women’s tennis game, and I was really impressed by the power and the speed and the whole game. I think women’s tennis is obviously in a brilliant moment. These two girls were 18 and 19 and what they showed was massively impressive during the game and then we watched the interviews and the trophy ceremony as well and both girls, how they spoke, at 18 and 19 – that was inspiring, to be honest, maybe more than the tennis and that was already inspiring enough. But I was absolutely overwhelmed by the way the two girls presented themselves. Fernandez was obviously disappointed losing the game, rightly so, it was a really close game. Emma showed great respect for her. They knew and they hoped they would face each other in the future very often and be in many more finals – I wish that for them as well. It was just a great show of sportsmanship, of elite sport, how humble you can be when you are that young and already on the top of the world, even when it is only for a few hours but they were, obviously. It was really nice. That’s what you can take. About the tennis story I don’t know enough, but when you are 18 years old and able to win the US Open, it’s clear there is one thing that happened in the last 10 or 15 years and that is the hardest work because otherwise it wouldn’t happen. She is for sure a talent of the century but without hardest work, it’s not possible to be there. That she did that, and now she is there in that moment and you see her smiling during the game, that’s just the nicest thing I can imagine. I will watch women’s tennis for sure much more now again, than I did in the last few years.
On his memories of the 2005 Champions League final…
[I remember] the obvious things, obviously. That night I was thinking about not watching the second half, to be honest, because like everybody in the world - apart from a few people in the Liverpool dressing room - I thought that this game might be decided. The fightback was impressive, but what I remember is some incredible saves from [Jerzy] Dudek. He had to keep them in the game; they scored three goals, but Milan could have scored more goals and that would have probably closed the game. That’s what I remember from the football game, but at that time I was neither an AC Milan supporter nor a Liverpool supporter, so it was just watching the Champions League final. After 3-0 and with all the things said before the game, Milan were probably the favourites and stuff like this, it looked like the game was decided. It became then one of the biggest football sensations ever and I was really happy that I didn't switch the telly off and that I watched the whole game.
On the qualities of Ibrahimovic that he is impressed by…
Intelligence. OK, that he has incredible technical ability is clear, he can obviously control a ball with his feet when it is at eight-foot high or whatever. He did that from time to time. He can score incredible volleys, he is good in heading, his athleticism was always outstanding and in all age groups he went through now, he always used the things which were left in his body in the perfect way. I don’t think he has the same speed he had when he was an 18-year-old boy or whatever, but it’s not important because when you understand the game, you can play the game in different circumstances – and that is what he is doing. The spectacular goals he scored, if it was a bicycle kick from near the halfway line or whatever, but the thing what impressed me most with him is the overview he has in the game. He really pre-thinks the things that will happen and it brings him in the right position, that’s why he can pass the ball and can use all situations in a game when the goalie is slightly too far in front of his goal, or whatever. The overview he always showed is what impressed me most.
On his admiration for legendary Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi and how often he speaks with him…
I wouldn't say I'm still in contact with Arrigo Sacchi; we are in contact from time to time. Mr Sacchi has my number and he used that from time to time and I obviously reply, but I don’t want to bother him with any kind of actual questions and would never do that. He is not only one of the best managers ever in the game, he's a very nice person on top of that. He was one of the most influential managers for me and for the way I like football because he organised the pitch in a different way with the formation he chose. The most influential manager I had - Wolfgang Frank - was pretty much obsessed with this way of football and that's how I got to know about it. I tried to figured out everything I could get about it when I was a younger coach and that helped me a lot. The way they played at the time when they were at their peak with Arrigo, with the Dutch guys, with [Franco] Baresi, with [Paolo] Maldini, with all these guys, that was absolutely impressive. They controlled games; it looked so easy but it wasn’t, it was just because they organised the pitch much smarter than all the others. He is a very impressive person.
On whether Mohamed Salah could continue playing well into his late 30s due to his physical condition…
Possibly. I’ve never spoken to him about how long he wants to play, but he has all the things you need to do that. He is obviously physically more the type of Lionel Messi [than Ibrahimovic or Cristiano Ronaldo] - similar height, similar weight probably. All these guys needed to be lucky with injuries, not that they were without injuries, but they always could come back without any further harm. That’s very important. Mo has all the things and I am pretty sure the way he sees football, he wants to be part of the game as long as he can somehow – and there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do that. It’s about attitude, obviously, you want it because I am pretty sure a couple of players finished their career because they just couldn't be that motivated anymore and thought, ‘OK, it’s fine, I won this, I won that but I am not the same as I was a few years ago…’ and that’s why people finish their careers. I'm pretty sure Mo wants to squeeze each day out of his career.
On the strength of Group B...
Look, it's always like this. This is the strongest group we have had since I'm at Liverpool, no doubt about that. I think in 2013 when I was at Dortmund we had the Champions League group as well - I think it was City, Real Madrid and [Ajax]. Everybody said, ‘Oh my god, how are you going to get through that?’ and stuff like this. It's all about you have to play the games anyway. What does this group do for the competition? It keeps out two really good football teams from the knockout stages, that’s already clear. It will deliver one really, really strong football team into the Europa League, that’s for sure as well so that’s what it delivers for the competition. Apart from that, I never understand when people talk about changes in the Champions League, it is just not my thing. I like the Champions League how it is, I’ve always said that, and this group shows there are no games where people think, ‘Do I really want to watch that?’ This group can be exciting from the first second to the last second, I can't see any kind of early decisions made in this group and that keeps us on our toes. In between these games, we have a very important competition as well playing Premier League, League Cup and then hopefully FA Cup later on in the season, but it’s the thing we wanted. It's exactly what we wanted. Now we are here, we play Milan here, Porto and then Atletico, unbelievable stadiums as well, great crowds, all that kind of stuff, passionate fanbase. It's exactly how you want football. That’s what we got and now we have to deal with it.