n a life more ordinary, Jurgen Klopp would fly to Kyiv in a couple of weeks time to visit the medical conference on “Urgent Cardiovascular Conditions” that is being staged in the Ukrainian capital. Growing up in the Black Forest village of Glatten, the son of a sports-obsessed travelling salesman had fantasised about becoming a doctor, you see. “I wanted to help people,” he said decades later.
Dr. Klopp has prescribed a high dose of perspective ahead of the clash with the holders and favourites. There was nothing to be nervous about, the message was drummed into his players during the recent training camp in Marbella: nothing to lose, everything to gain.