The final training session at Dortmund's Brackel training ground before the team's departure for London was conducted with a palpable sense of intensity.
The playful banter that usually accompanied the warm-up was replaced by a quiet focus, each player moving through their drills with a precision and purpose that reflected the magnitude of the upcoming challenge.
The Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea was no longer an abstract concept on the horizon; it was a tangible reality, a career-defining moment that would test every aspect of their individual and collective abilities.
Klopp's demeanor was a perfect reflection of the team's mood calm, controlled, but with an undercurrent of fierce intensity that was impossible to ignore.
His instructions were concise and direct, his focus on the small details that he knew would make the difference in a match of such fine margins.
