Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has sparked a fierce response from Barcelona after declaring their Camp Nou home is “just a stadium”.
Klopp's team fly out to Catalonia on Tuesday afternoon to prepare for their Champions League semi-final first leg against the Spanish champions the following evening.
It's the first time the Reds boss will have taken charge of a team at Camp Nou in his career.
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Klopp, though, visited with his Liverpool squad in December 2016 for a team bonding exercise in which they saw Barcelona beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 in a Champions League group game.
And the German believes that experience can help going into Wednesday's blockbuster.
“Once we were there with Liverpool on a Christmas trip in a game against Gladbach,” said Klopp to DAZN in Germany.
“To have seen alone that this is just a stadium and not a temple, that was certainly important.
“You see other teams that have a hard time playing there and now we are going to experience it, although of course we hope to do well.”
Those words haven't gone down well in Barcelona, though, with local media suggesting Klopp has dismissed the importance of Camp Nou.
And Barcelona's official Twitter account made a point on Tuesday morning of posting a tweet that said: “This is Camp Nou. Our home. Our temple. Our fortress.”
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Klopp also believes his Liverpool side must be regarded underdogs to reach a second successive Champions League final.
“If you play against Barcelona, you're certainly not the favourite,” he added.
