Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet believes that entry for Europa League winners into the Champions League makes it an enticing proposition, but he insists that the Reds are not thinking too far ahead and their focus remains on Besiktas for now.
The Reds play Slaven Bilic’s men tonight in the second leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium. The visitors take a 1-0 lead into the match from the first leg at Anfield.
After enduring a slow start to the season, Brendan Rodgers’ side have hit their stride going undefeated in their last ten Premier League outings. As a result they have climbed to sixth in the table with 45 points, just two behind fourth placed Manchester United.
Liverpool’s recent run of form has made them among the leading contenders to secure a place among the Premier League’s top four come the season’s end and thereby secure their passage into the Champions League for the second year running.
Mignolet believes that the Merseyside giants have it in them to finish among the top four and qualify for Europe’s elite tournament.
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But with the prize of Champions League qualification up for grabs for the winners of this season’s Europa League, the Belgium international believes it is another route that Liverpool can take to fulfil their European ambitions.
“We want to play in the Champions League next year and there are five ways of doing that: making sure you get into the top four places of the Premier League or winning the Europa League”, Mignolet told the club site.
However, the 26-year-old is quick to warn his team-mates that the Europa League final is a long way off and they had better focus on the task at hand.
“But let's not get ahead of ourselves and think about any final or winning the Europa League.
"Let's make sure we do our jobs at Besiktas.”
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