Jürgen Klopp has made his contract extension in Liverpool particularly dependent on one man: assistant coach Pep Lijnders. Here Klopp’s closest confidant talks about working with him, the mistakes of the past season and the escalating duels between the two in padel tennis.
A morning in July on the outskirts of Donaueschingen. Tractors rattle across fields between which, hidden behind a gentle hill, lies a luxury hotel. Gummy bear-colored Porsches are lined up in front of the entrance. Normal operations in the Öschberghof continue, although a world club is visiting the southern German province. The Liverpool FC team bus is parked not far from the sports cars of holidaying hotel guests.