Liverpool supremo Jürgen Klopp has played down fears that fans at Anfield will disrupt a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II before Tuesday night’s Champions League match against Ajax.
Liverpool have asked European football’s governing body Uefa for permission to pay tribute to the 96-year-old monarch who died last Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Some fans booed the national anthem before the FA Cup final against Chelsea in May at Wembley and Liverpool bosses fear a repeat of such antics would sully the reputation of the club.
“I think it is the right thing to do,” said Klopp of the proposed silence.
“But I don’t think our people need any kind of advice from me for showing respect. There are plenty of examples where our people showed exactly the right respect.”
Precedents
The 55-year-old German highlighted Liverpool supporters’ applause for Cristiano Ronaldo in the seventh minute of last season’s game at Manchester United after the death of the player’s new-born son.
“I was really proud of that moment around a very sad situation with Cristiano Ronaldo’s family. For me, it is clear that’s what we have to do.”
Liverpool, who lost the 2022 final to Real Madrid, will be looking to make a statement against the Dutch champions.
They were scheduled to play Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday but the match was called off by the Premier League as a mark of respect following the Queen’s death.
Rout
Four days earlier Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 at Napoli in their opening game in the Champions League.
Klopp described the performance as the worst he had seen in his seven years as Liverpool coach.
"I watched the game against Napoli back plenty of times and it was a real horror show, to be honest.
"And we showed the boys the situation as well - they knew. Seeing it again, makes it really obvious.”
Performance
The rout exacerbated a poor start to the Premier League season in which they have claimed nine out of a possible 18 points.
"We have to show a reaction, definitely,” added Klopp. “We know that. That does not guarantee a result against Ajax.”
The visitors arrive at Anfield in fine fettle. Despite losing manager Erik ten Hag to Manchester United as well as several players, they have won all six of their games in the Eredivise this season.
Alfred Schreuder’s side opened their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 annihilation of Rangers.
"Ajax, I would say, are pretty much in the opposite situation to Liverpool,” added Klopp.
“They have, again, a rebuild - a really massive rebuild - but they are doing - no surprise, again - a really good job.
“We have to make sure that we play completely different to what we did at Napoli.”
