After being utterly dominant in the Premier League, Liverpool will now look to defend their European crown.
Jan Oblak has raved about Liverpool trio Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah and admitted that they will be ‘a pain’ for Atletico Madrid during their Champions League showdown on Tuesday night.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Oblak labelled Jurgen Klopp’s front three as ‘world-class’ but made it clear that his side have to ‘worry’ about every Liverpool player.
After being utterly dominant in the Premier League playground, the Reds will now return to a playground where they witnessed their greatest night under Klopp, as they will look to continue their defence of the European Cup in Madrid.
The champions-elect are searching for their seventh Champions League trophy, and given how they have swept teams aside in the Premier League, Oblak is well aware of what is facing his side.
“Of course, we have analysed them but all three are world-class [Mane, Firmino and Salah],” Oblak told the Liverpool Echo. “LFC are a team that everyone on the pitch is an incredible player. They are in amazing form, so I need to worry about them all.
“These three guys will be a pain for all of us. The stats don’t lie, we have to think about not conceding [from set-pieces]. We need to focus and if we are then we can do much better than we have so far.”
There’s no doubt that Klopp’s players will face their toughest test in a long while tonight because playing in Europe is a completely different cup of tea to playing in England’s top-flight.
They faced some pretty tough matches during the group stages and now they enter the knockout rounds knowing that this is where they showcase to the world what they are all about.
Given that comeback win against Barcelona last season, Diego Simeone will be well aware that a usually dominant margin in a first-leg tie is just merely an advantage against this Liverpool team.
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