Liverpool shook away questions about their UEFA Champions League future upon fending off RB Salzburg’s late surge with a 2-0 win to move into the knockout rounds.
Having topped their group, there are definitely some interesting draw potential for the defending champions. They could face Real Madrid, who defeated them in the 2018 final, and Zinedine Zidane sarcastically expressed his confidence at beating them.
But Andy Robertson believes that his side is scary enough to the point that nobody would want to get drawn against them in the knockout rounds. He spoke to Liverpool.com after the Salzburg victory about the draw’s potential and said.
“We respect every opponent we play but we know the way we have done things in the last two years and nobody wants to play against us and that is clear – but it is up to us to keep proving that.”
“We cannot rely on that and we need to keep proving why people don’t want to play against us but, so far, we have done that.”, he further added.
The Scotland International admits that his side are aware on how difficult the knockout rounds will be but they’re confident of going far ahead in the competition, citing that his side is well respected to cause problems.
He said, “We will wait for the draw and see who we get in the last 16. We know it will be tough regardless but we look forward to the challenge as we want to go far in this tournament again.”
“That is the atmosphere we have created in the last two years: a team which has been to the final twice and has obviously lost one and won one and we are respected in this tournament.”, he further explained.
The left-back also explained how the Reds are better respected than a few years ago in the tournament, mostly because of how successful they’ve been.
He stated, “Maybe the first season when we went to the final, I don’t think we were really respected until maybe after the quarter-final when we went to Porto and washed them away.”
“We did not get the respect we deserved. Now, we know we are respected in Europe. No one will want us but everyone who gets into the last 16 will fancy themselves.”
Robertson also expressed that Liverpool knows they are the team everyone wants to hunt down, stating how he hopes they can deal with that pressure well.
He explained, “Last year and the year before we have been excellent in the knockout stages and we have controlled games but we know that now, we are the champions and everyone wants to beat us. That is what we have to deal with and hopefully we can deal with it well.”
Liverpool has a busy December ahead, as they’ll travel to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup next week while also maintaining their stronghold in the Premier League top spot throughout the festive period.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
