Jurgen Klopp hails ‘super coach’ Gian Piero Gasperini ahead of UEFA Europa League quarter-final with Atalanta

Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini ahead of Liverpool’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie against the Serie A side.

The Reds cruised past Sparta Prague with an emphatic 11-2 aggregate round-of-16 victory and were handed an intriguing meeting with the Bergamo outfit in Friday’s draw.

La Dea currently sit sixth in the Italian top flight and are four points adrift of the top four with 10 games remaining.

When quizzed about the draw in his pre-match press conference previewing their FA Cup showdown with Manchester United, Klopp replied: "Tricky. I have never played there.

"Super coach. Pretty similar structure [to before] and it means a very uncomfortable [opponent] to play against.

“It's a quarter-final so you don't expect any easy opponents. Very interesting and I am really looking forward to it. Let's see what we can do."

Klopp’s side were 4-0 up against the Czechs inside the opening quarter of an hour, and he explained how that gave him the luxury to already start the planning for Sunday’s match at Old Trafford.

With their huge 9-2 aggregate lead at the break, the German was able to withdraw Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo and Darwin Nunez after the opening 45 minutes.

"It was strange,” he added. “You can't believe you are 4-1 up at half-time and 9-2 [on aggregate]. Even the biggest pessimist will not think we will not go through to the next round. The only reason [I took players off was] because of that."

Gomez was singled out for praise by the German having stepped up in the absence of the sidelined Trent Alexander-Arnold, and subsequently earning his first England call-up in more than three years.

Klopp said: "I don't think I had a lot of influence [on Gomez call-up]. It wasn't necessary. Joe deserves it, absolutely.

“The season he played so far has been exceptional. I've said a lot of times we are not where we are without the kids and the same with Joe. Really happy for him and saw on his face he is very happy too."

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