Ayestaran: Klopp must deal with fear

Pako Ayestaran helped guide Liverpool to Champions League victory in 2005 – and knows exactly what needs to be done to get the club’s players through one of the biggest games in their lives on Saturday.

The Reds, who have shaken off a run of one appearance in the competition since 2008 to reach the final this year, come up against a Real Madrid side in Kiev bidding to win the tournament for the third time in succession – and become the first team to do so since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s.

Ayestaran was assistant to Rafa Benitez when Liverpool lifted the trophy in Istanbul 13 years ago, having defied the odds to beat Juventus and big-spending Chelsea and set-up a final with favourites AC Milan.

As with that Liverpool team, tomorrow’s line-up will have no previous experience of a game of this magnitude, and Ayestaran toldĀ Sky Sportsthat will prove Jurgen Klopp’s biggest headache as he looks to overturn a club with 12 Champions League and European Cup titles under their belts.

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