Diogo Jota admits Europa League football next season ‘will feel like a downgrade’ to Liverpool fans

Diogo Jota has admitted that Liverpool playing in the Europa League next season will feel like a ‘downgrade’ to the club’s fans.

Despite a strong finish to the campaign, Jurgen Klopp’s side were unable to secure a Champions League place, ultimately finishing 5th in the Premier League four points behind Newcastle.

As a result the Reds will feature in the continent’s secondary competition for the first time since finishing runners-up in 2016 in what was Jurgen Klopp’s maiden season in charge at Anfield.

However, despite acknowledging that Liverpool fans may be disappointed not to see their club vying for a seventh Champions League trophy next season, Jota insisted that the Europa League comes with its own prestige.

‘I played in the Europa League before with Wolves,’ Jota told FourFourTwo.

Diogo Jota acknowledged that Liverpool fans may see the club playing in the Europa League as a ‘downgrade’

The Reds last competed in the competition in 2016, where they were defeated in the final by Sevilla

‘Although the fans are used to playing in the Champions League every single year and it will feel like a downgrade, it’s still a prestigious competition. We’ll give our best to win it.’

Perhaps the one silver lining of Liverpool’s failure to qualify for the Champions League is that it severely reduces the likelihood the club will be forced to face Real Madrid again.

The La Liga runners-up have become the club’s bogey team in european competitions in recent years, with the Reds falling to Champions League defeats against Los Blancos in the 2018 and 2022 finals, 2021 quarter-finals and the 2023 round of 16.

Jota joked he hopes playing in the Europa League means the club can avoid another European showdown with Real Madrid

However, Real could still technically meet Liverpool in the Europa League if they drop into the competition by finishing third in their group.

The former Wolves star went on to joke that he hopes his side can avoid the Spanish giants with a showdown between the two teams not out of the realm of possibility:

‘[Real Madrid] can somehow finish third in their group and still be in our way. But since I came to Liverpool, I’ve always got knocked out by Real Madrid, so hopefully they’re not there [in the Europa League].’