Jurgen Klopp: No Extra Pressure to Deliver Liverpool's First FIFA Club World Cup

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he is not feeling pressure to win the team's first FIFA Club World Cup title.

The Reds have won virtually everything there is to win in football, but the Club World Cup has eluded them since its inception in 2000. Liverpool have appeared in the competition once, after winning the UEFA Champions League in 2005, but they were beaten by Sao Paulo. 

Per FIFA.com, the prospect of winning the competition for the first time has not occurred to Klopp: "Oh, I didn't think about that. I'm not someone who has to be the first on the moon or the first winning the World Cup with Liverpool, but when we are there then we will try with all we have."

On whether there's extra pressure on him to win it, he added: "We will see. So far, I don't feel any pressure. I see it as an absolute opportunity as you don't often have the chance to play for it. You have to win the Champions League as the European team, so that already makes it special."

Since AC Milan won the competition in 2007, the European representatives have gone on to win it every year with the sole exception of 2012, when Chelsea lost to Corinthians.

Liverpool will enter at the semi-final stage alongside the winners of the Copa Libertadores, which will be either Flamengo or River Plate.

The Merseyside outfit will face either Monterrey of Mexico, Qatari hosts Al-Sadd or New Caledonian side Hienghene Sport, while the South American side will take on either Esperance de Tunis of Tunisia, or the Asian Champions League winners (Urawa Red Diamonds or Al-Hilal).

Liverpool will find themselves in a unique situation given their hectic December schedule:

Klopp's comments suggest the Reds will deploy their strongest lineup in Qatar, while in the Carabao Cup they'll continue to make use of their younger players.

Goal's Jack Sear isn't especially confident of Liverpool progressing in the latter competition if that is the case, though:

The circumstances are far from ideal, but given the Premier League side have never won the Club World Cup before, it's understandable that would be the priority.

What's more, if the Reds are knocked out of the Carabao Cup they'll at least have a silver lining by not having to worry about a two-legged semi-final in January, which will give them more opportunity to rest after a gruelling festive period.