By Pete Jenson for MailOnline
Published: 12:10 BST, 18 April 2019 | Updated: 12:10 BST, 18 April 2019
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‘Klopp’s Army’ was the headline in Barcelona’s El Mundo Deportivo on Thursday as the dust settled on the quarter-finals.
It’s the second Red Army Lionel Messi and company must face to lift the Champions League and in Catalonia they are under no illusions that this battle will be far tougher than the one they faced in the last round.
If Manchester United threatened the team’s quest for the Champions League it was because of their relatively recent history of beating the odds at the Nou Camp – this time the respect is born, not of history, but of the here and now. It’s the current Liverpool team that impresses the whole of Spain.
Liverpool impressed the whole of Spain by booking a spot in Champions League semi-finals
Jurgen Klopp's men will face Barcelona in the last four of the competition at the start of May
El Mundo Deportivo say how Liverpool haven't been beaten by Barcelona in knockout stages
Barely a single United player would have got into Barcelona’s XI. That’s not the case with Liverpool.
Firminho has been talked about as a long-term replacement for Luis Suarez – probably not gettable but someone who fits the template.
Across the Clasico divide Real Madrid would love to sign Sadio Mane this summer. Again, they know it’s not possible but if Zinedine Zidane could pick a striker it might well be the Liverpool forward.
And when Julen Lopetegui and then Santiago Solari were relieved of their managerial duties at the Santiago Bernabeu there was one man who topped all the fan polls to be the new coach: not Zidane, not Jose Mourinho, not Mauricio Pochettino, but Jurgen Klopp.
Real Madrid have been eyeing up a summer move for Liverpool winger Sadio Mane
And the respect and admiration for him is felt in Barcelona too where many supporters would like to see him take the
