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Klopp looking to bring 100,000 Liverpool fans to Basel for Europa League final

Reuters

Jurgen Klopp is hoping to bring an army of Liverpool fans with him to the Europa League final in Basel.

After guiding his side to a 3-0 win over Villarreal in Thursday's semi-final second leg, Klopp commended his players for yet another stirring night at Anfield.

"We go to Basel. We take, I don't know, 50, 60, 70,000 Liverpudlians with us. Not in the stadium, but in the city. Maybe 100,000," the German told BT Sport. "It is a nice city by the way, close to my home. Go there, create an atmosphere, and let's do our best again. It's well-deserved, and I'm really pleased for the boys."

Related: Liverpool finds inspiration at Anfield to book place in Europa League final

Liverpool has only been allocated 10,000 tickets for the May 18 showpiece at Basel's St Jakob-Park, which has a capacity of just 38,000.

Klopp, however, has now reached a second final in seven months in charge, inspiring a team that looked confused and disorganized prior to the sacking of Brendan Rodgers.

Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana, who both figured into the goals Thursday, are just two of the players revived by Klopp. Because the whole club has managed to recapture the imagination of fans who've not enjoyed a long European run since 2007, when AC Milan beat Liverpool in the Champions League final.

"What power, what a performance, what attitude, what readiness, motivation, everything," Klopp said. "The first half-an-hour was big emotion."

The gaffer also called on supporters to bottle that European spirit and release it on Premier League matchdays. Despite its continental success, Liverpool is still in eighth place in the league table with three matches left to play.

Related: Liverpool fans pack Anfield Road before Europa League kick-off

"If this is the difference from the Premier League then it's easy to change. We have to create atmospheres like that at each Premier League game," he said. "Everybody who's listening, you know what you have to do."

Liverpool resumes action on Sunday against Watford.

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