You'll have plenty to celebrate when you subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Jurgen Klopp believes his Liverpool squad are “much better than everybody thinks”.

The Reds boss feels that while everybody thinks his club are a big name, many do not have the faith he holds in the current members of the playing staff.

Asked if he has been surprised by the progress of his team - standing on the verge of a European final if Villarreal can be vanquished at Anfield on Thursday - less than seven months after he took over at Anfield, Klopp said: “No. But to be honest I didn’t think about me when I came here in October.

“I had no idea about this. I had a few impressions about the squad and a few impressions about the club so I had no real idea what we could this season.

“We wanted to improve and that’s what we did.

“It’s a semi-final, it’s difficult but we still have a real chance. We go to the final or we don’t go to the final. Both will be a big experience.

“If we don’t go to the final Villareal deserve to be there, if we go to the final we deserved it, so that’s pretty easy.

“I don’t need more. I want to fight in this second leg for the opportunity to play a final.

“But then we will not have a European cup. We will have to play a final. That’s how it is.

“I said yesterday after the press conference, if at this moment you speak about Liverpool it’s still a little bit like ‘big name, not so good squad.’

“In my opinion the club is a big name and a much better squad than everybody thinks.

“That’s what I’m really pleased with. We are in a good way and I like the attitude of the players.”

(Image: James Maloney)

Despite the gut-wrenching effect of villarreal’s last minute winner at El Madrigal, Klopp is confident he has the players who can come back from such a psychological blow.

“Things like this happen but they will always strike back. That’s the important thing and that’s what we can show.

“That’s the relationship we have, again, between the crowd and the players because it’s honest. It’s absolutely honest. We are not perfect sorry, but we are really hard workers and I think that’s the most important thing to show when you are not the best.

“The best is always only one. The rest is second best, or third best or whatever. We want to be the best and we want to be much better than we are at the moment. We try everything for this and hopefully we can do it in the second leg.”