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Real Madrid have “mutated into a result monster” with Liverpool admitting they must play the game of their lives to win the Champions League.

But the Reds squad has been praised for absorbing the loss of Philippe Coutinho with the club still actively pursuing a replacement for the departed Brazilian.

Liverpool are aiming for a sixth European Cup triumph when they take on 12-time winners Real Madrid in the final in Kiev on Saturday.

And Klopp's assistant Peter Krawietz, known affectionately as “the eye” by the Reds boss, is acutely aware of the task Liverpool face against a Real Madrid side seeking a third successive Champions League win.

“They have mutated in recent years in the Champions League to a result monster and have insane experience,” said Krawietz.

“If you go through the final squads of the last two finals, they have only exchanged one position in 2017 compared to the previous year and would theoretically be in a position to set up the same team again this year as in the last final.

“Meanwhile, they have the next generation with players like Asensio or Vasquez coming up, all of who are incredibly good and already very experienced.

“Real is simply extremely experienced, they know each other blind, have incredible footballing qualities and experience in abundance. We therefore want and must play the game of our lives to meet this challenge.”

Liverpool's progress through the knockout stages – beating Porto, Manchester City and Roma – had been all the more remarkable given the January departure of Coutinho for £142million to Barcelona.

“His change was very painful, because we lost his quality and special style of play,” said Krawietz in an interview with SPOX in Germany. “So we had to ask ourselves: Can the group deal with this? Can we respond to this urgent call to change?

“In the end we answered in the affirmative. Phil was a formative figure with us. It was a pity he left. Fortunately, we have managed to absorb his loss collectively.

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“Of course, one notices whether a player is happy or unhappy. When a club approaches a player and suggests things to him, such as he might force a situation that complicates the situation for his current employer, that's not nice and distressing for everyone.

“Of course, that was also a topic in the group, even though Phil had made the best possible contribution to the team until the last day in Liverpool.”

Klopp chose not to replace Coutinho in January, primarily due to the inflated prices in the transfer market.

And Liverpool fear they could find themselves in a similar situation during the summer.

“We've already looked around, but when you do that, you notice relatively quickly how much the prices have exploded since the Neymar transfer last summer,” said Krawietz.

“Every club knew that there are now 222million euros in Barcelona. This led to a few incredible stories and a spiral that you felt, for example, not only with us, but also in Dortmund.”