On what he sees in this Liverpool team that makes him confident success can be achieved…
I think what we’ve shown is that we can win football games so far this season, but there’s also a long way to go. Some of us have the experience of winning [a Premier League e a Champions League]; you need consistency, a bit of luck along the way, also in terms of injuries, form and things like that. But so far we’ve had that, we’ve had good performances and maybe when we haven’t been at our best we’ve still found a way to win, which is good. But we are only 12 games away from the Premier League, four games away from the Champions League and I still think there is a lot of football to be played and a lot of twists and turns. But when you’re in a good place, you have to try to keep going and build that momentum. I think that’s what we’ve been really good at so far, and we have to try to keep doing that because we know we have big games coming up and if we can get results in them, our position can strengthen.
On whether a win on Wednesday would be an “important stepping stone” for this team’s development… Yes, it is
Of course. Obviously, since I’ve been here, we’ve played against Real Madrid five or six times and obviously we’re still not on the winning side. But few of us were probably involved in it; It’s a very different team, a new team where a lot of players probably haven’t faced Real Madrid with Liverpool yet, and it’s also the same for them — they’re a new team and new faces. When it comes to these big games and you play against the best players and the best teams, of course you want to be one, involved in the game and two, you want to get the result.
It will probably be the most watched game this week, and that’s what the big players want to be a part of. And I think if we can get the win, it will put us in an even better position in the Champions League. Plus, you’re beating one of your competitors, which is always good. We are excited about this prospect. But we also know how good Real Madrid can be and we know that they will come here believing and confident that they will get the result. I hope tomorrow night we will be the happiest
.
About your leadership in the team and whether your importance is increasing…
Probably few of us were successful, like in the two big trophies. And we all have to dive into that and help new players and younger players because it can be very easy to get carried away and look too far into the future. But I think we have enough in the locker room that won’t allow that to happen. That’s where we probably trust me, Virgil [van Dijk]Mo [Salah]Trent [Alexander-Arnold]Ali [Alisson Becker] Joe Gomez, people like that, who have been there and done that, who can calm everything down and focus on the next game, because that’s the most important thing. We are fully focused on tomorrow night and at 11pm tomorrow night we will be fully focused on Man City and whatever happens there we will be fully focused on Newcastle. This is how we work and have always worked. I think that’s what will work best in our locker room and obviously we are fundamental to that.
Em Alexander-Arnold…
