Jürgen Klopp Warns Liverpool That Sparta Praha Still Have Chance in Tie

Liverpool carry a 5-1 advantage into the second leg of their Europa League Round of 16 match against Sparta Praha at Anfield, but manager Jürgen Klopp insists the tie isn’t over and his side will need to deliver a solid performance.

Were the shoe on the other foot, Klopp’s Liverpool would be looking to secure another historic comeback, and with nothing to lose it seems fair to expect that’s what the Czech First League leaders will be looking for.

“If the roles were reversed I would be sending my team out to do everything in their power to turn the tie into a real fight,” Klopp said in his pre-game notes. “I have no doubt Sparta will do exactly the same thing.

“We arrive into tonight’s game in a good position but this is all that it is. We had a good result in the first leg and to the outside world we are already through to the next round but I will stress at the very outset that this is not how we see it.

“The lead that we have is very welcome of course. We had to work really hard for it, though, and I am not sure that the result in Prague was a very good reflection of the game [and] the scoreline was not necessarily fair to them.”

Sparta took a positive approach in the first leg, leading to a fairly open game where Liverpool’s superior technical quality in the attacking third made the difference—but on another night they could have had a few more goals of their own.

That gives Liverpool a major edge heading into leg two, but underdogs Sparta will be convinced that if they play similarly but perhaps get a bounce or two to go their way early on the tie could get nervy in a hurry.