Julian Nagelsmann told his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that Liverpool are ‘still a world-class’ team.
The RB Leipzig coach also stated that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is ‘one of the top world-class coaches’.
Liverpool may hold a two-goal lead heading into tonight’s second-leg Champions League encounter, but this tie isn’t over given how the Reds have been performing lately.
Nagelsmann thinks Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have been a huge miss for the Premier League champions and they have perhaps lacked self-confidence and coolness within the team.
“This is a difficult phase for this team,” said Nagelsmann. “But still, they are a world-class team.
“It’s one of the top world-class coaches. Jurgen Klopp, I think this weekend he said it’s his ‘worst period’ and ‘worst phase’ as a coach.
“Nonetheless, he already mastered some crises. I think they still have a chance to win the match, that wouldn’t be very nice to us.
“They always created chances in all the matches that they lost. Maybe they weren’t cool enough in front of the goal and weren’t self-confident.
“For example, there was Van Dijk, who sometimes scored the first goal. Joe Gomez is missing, so they really have bad luck with injuries.”
In normal circumstances, Liverpool will be booking their place in the quarter-finals with relative ease.
But given how they have been performing in recent months, a comeback from Leipzig may well be on the cards.
The first goal is going to be crucial tonight because if Liverpool can get their front three going early on then those on the sidelines may be able to rest with relative ease.
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