Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged his players to write themselves into the club's storied European history when they face Premier League leaders Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
While City currently have the upper hand domestically as they sit 18 points clear of Liverpool in the Premier League, five-time European champions Liverpool have far more pedigree in continental competition.
However, the Reds haven't reached the Champions League last four for a decade and Klopp wants modern day memories created at Anfield.
"This club is already so full of history and we have to write our own history," said the German on Tuesday when quizzed whether he was seeking inspiration from Liverpool's glory days in Europe. "People meet me in the street and they can tell me each goal Liverpool who scored 37 years ago in the 56th minute., we need to be proud of our history but we need to create our own history.
"I did that a lot in the past with my former teams, but at one point you need to do your own things. The boys are ready, they are really looking forward to it."
City's only league defeat of the season came at Anfield in a thrilling 4-3 Liverpool win and Klopp welcomed the challenge.
"I like the difficult jobs, that is the most interesting thing for a manager," added Klopp. "What to do in this or that moment? How to prepare your boys as good as possible from the mental and physical side?"
Guardiola has won all seven of his previous Champions League quarterfinals as a coach at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. However, no opposing coach has beaten Guardiola more in his trophy-laden career than Klopp. In 12 previous meetings, Klopp has six wins to Guardiola's five.
The Liverpool boss played down the significance of that personal record, but did cite it as reason to believe that winnin was feasible.
" I didn't beat Pep, my teams did and I was lucky with them doing what they did," said Klopp. 'It's really difficult, but 1 think we can beat the best. But only if we work really hard and smart."