Liverpool FC is one of the most successful English football teams on the planet but its manager, Jürgen Klopp, does not want anyone to think its about him.
Although Liverpool was crowned Europe’s top team by winning this year’s UEFA Champions League, Klopp is happy for others to be successful – and believes the “greatest act ever accomplished” has already happened.
For years, Klopp has shared about his humble approach to the game – and what he blames for such a refreshing outlook in the world of high-powered, high-stakes sport.
“The problem is I’m a Christian,” he said in an interview with the BBC in 2016. “That [in itself] is not a problem, but the problem is I think other people can have success too – it’s not about me.”
Klopp was asked last year if he remembered an answer he gave to a question put to him in a 2004 interview: Who is the most important person the world has ever known?
“Jesus Christ,” Klopp immediately recalled and affirmed. “For me, that’s an easy one to answer.
“This guy comes into the world, and he has a clear mission, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park.
“But in the end [of his life], he took all our sins on his head and let them nail him to the cross.
“For me, as a Christian, that’s the most decisive thing that ever happened … because it changed everything.”
Klopp steered German club Borussia Dortmund twice to the top of the Bundesliga and his Liverpool side reached second place during the English Premier Leagues’ 2018-2019 season. But one of the world’s most respected managers believes that what Jesus achieved through his death and resurrection cannot be beaten.
“It’s the greatest act that was ever accomplished and there’s no way we could ever do it. And we don’t need to because someone else did it for us.
“That’s a huge, huge comfort.”