Question: How much of the hype surrounding Klopp have you taken in?
Can: I've heard a lot but as a team, we were fully focused on the game. That was the most important thing. I think the manager did exactly the same.
Question: Did Jürgen Klopp motivate the team particularly well?
Can: He does that ahead of every game. He did the same thing he usually does when he spoke to us before the match. He's a very, very good motivator. That was no different today.
Question: Dortmund were considered the favourites before the game. Are Liverpool in a better position going into the second leg?
Can: No. I think that both sides still have an equal chance of progressing. I said that before the game and I think it still applies after the 1-1 draw. We'll see what happens next week in the return leg. We hope that Dortmund don’t score.
Emre Can's game is constantly growing; he wins plenty of balls in midfield and he dictates the game in the middle of the park. He played a significant role in Liverpool's 1-1 draw away to Borussia Dortmund in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday night.
The central midfielder appeared satisfied with the result against Dortmund, who feature World Cup winners Roman Weidenfeller, Mats Hummels and Erik Durm, along with Can's international teammate Marco Reus and Germany U21 international Julian Weigl. In an interview with DFB.de, the 22-year-old spoke about the result, the Reds' tactics, the hype surrounding Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and his side's chances ahead of next Thursday's return leg.
Question: Emre Can, is the 1-1 draw away to Borussia Dortmund a fair result from your point of view?
Emre Can: Yes, 1-1 is a fair result. It was a hard game for us but I think we did a good job. It's always difficult to play here in Dortmund, so the draw is a decent result for us.
Question: Is it particularly good for you to have left here with a draw?
Can: No, we came here to win. That was our aim.
Question: In any case, Jürgen Klopp clearly got his tactics right. What did he tell you to do?
Can: The manager set us up in the right way. He obviously knows the Dortmund team well. We wanted to press high up and disrupt their play early on, which we managed well, especially in the first half.
Question: How much of the hype surrounding Klopp have you taken in?
Can: I've heard a lot but as a team, we were fully focused on the game. That was the most important thing. I think the manager did exactly the same.
Question: Did Jürgen Klopp motivate the team particularly well?
Can: He does that ahead of every game. He did the same thing he usually does when he spoke to us before the match. He's a very, very good motivator. That was no different today.
Question: Dortmund were considered the favourites before the game. Are Liverpool in a better position going into the second leg?
Can: No. I think that both sides still have an equal chance of progressing. I said that before the game and I think it still applies after the 1-1 draw. We'll see what happens next week in the return leg. We hope that Dortmund don’t score.
