Q&A: Trent on Madrid return, CL mentality and Alisson brilliance
Trent Alexander-Arnold insists Liverpool's focus on Tuesday night's encounter at Atletico Madrid massively overrides any emotions about the return to a memorable location.
The Reds will be back at the venue where they lifted the Champions League trophy a little over eight months ago for a last-16 encounter with Diego Simeone's side.
While Estadio Metropolitano will forever hold a special place in Alexander-Arnold's heart, the full-back stressed how he and his teammates are only thinking about the present day ahead of the fixture.
Speaking at a press conference to preview the affair, the No.66 said: "Obviously it holds good memories for us where a lot of our dreams came true, but for us we can't focus too much on the past.
"We've got a job to do tomorrow. Our aim is to hopefully win these type of trophies and keep going in each type of competition as much as possible.
"Our next step is to try to get a result tomorrow and we know it will be difficult. That's where our focus is at and we're not focused on what happened in June, we're focused on what's going to happen tomorrow."
Read on for a summary of what Alexander-Arnold told journalists in the Spanish capital...
On Cafu's recent praise about him being able to win the Ballon d'Or...
Massive praise from a legend of the game and it's something I am really thankful for and I have to give thanks to him for those words. I try to be the best player I can be. It's a team game, so it's about the players that I have around me, the players I have in training, the manager, the support I have all around me that enables me to be as good as I can be. That's the focus for me, taking it a game at a time. Accolades may or may not come in the future, it doesn't really faze me as much as maybe it does other players. For me, especially, it's about winning the team trophies.
On Joe Gomez's recent form...
Amazing. I think we saw it even last season, we've seen it since he's come into the club. Obviously he's probably struggled with injuries and not played as much as he'd have wanted to. At the start of the season he was probably frustrated that he wasn't getting as many minutes as he'd have wanted to, but he's been patient. He was amazing in training throughout the course of the season and once he got his chance, he took it with both hands. I think that's been the case with all the centre-backs that have partnered Virg so far this season. All three of them have really took their chance and been world-class every time they've come in. You see it every day in training with all four of them, they apply themselves and it's no surprise to us that when they are given that chance they perform like they do day in, day out.
On whether last season's success motivates him more to retain the Champions League...
We want to achieve as much as possible. We want to make the most of it while we can, so for us it's about trying to do the things that we did last June. In terms of changing the focus, nothing has really changed for us because we go into every game with the same mentality that we respect the opponent as much as we can. We understand that we're a really good side and that if our mentality is right and commitment is right in the game then we have a chance. Whether that be in any competition we take part in, we're confident going into the game.
On the squad's ability to break teams down...
We've adapted as a team over the last two years especially. Many different teams that we're coming up against, different tactics, we're able to counter it and adapt during the game at half-time and things like that. We came up against a similar formation that we're going to face tomorrow on Saturday at Norwich. We understand what we're going to face, it'll be very difficult but we're going into it with a game plan. We know what we need to do and hopefully we'll come away with a result that puts us into a good position going back to Anfield.
On Liverpool's mindset in knockout matches in the Champions League...
The best players in the world want to get to these stages, they want to get to finals and they want to be winning trophies – and so do the best teams. If we want to be known as one of the best teams in the world or be competing as one of the best teams in the world, then we have to be getting to the latter stages. We believe we can do it, we know that there are tough games that come our way – we've seen that over the last two years. But we've managed to overcome a lot of hurdles, different types of games, different advantages and disadvantages and we know that we're capable of doing that.
The experiences we've got from the last two seasons, especially from the Champions League, have really educated us on how to get far in these competitions. That's not obviously saying just because we've been to two finals in a row, we're going to get there again this year because it's difficult and it's not how football [works] and things can happen. But in terms of the things that we've learned, we understand what it takes. We know that not being at 100 per cent, you will get punished for that. We know that we have to be at 100 per cent all the time.
On how reassuring it is to have Alisson Becker behind him...
I think a lot of people are running out of words for him. But [it's an] unbelievable feeling to have him behind us. When you've got a lot of confidence in your goalkeeper, it's something you can't really overlook and you can't really take for granted. A world-class goalkeeper, probably the best in the world. I think we're really grateful to have him in our side – he helps us out. From the time he's been injured to coming back and keeping so many clean sheets, he's showed game in, game out that he can make the hard saves look easy.