Andy Robertson's Atletico preview: 'We need a complete Liverpool performance'
Andy Robertson believes a 'complete Liverpool performance' will be required to defeat Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
The Reds are 1-0 down at the halfway point of the sides’ Champions League last-16 tie and host the La Liga team at Anfield in the return fixture.
Victory is imperative for Robertson and co to maintain their defence of the trophy they lifted in Madrid last June – and at a pre-match press conference, the left-back outlined what he thinks is needed to achieve it.
He also discussed his fitness after being sidelined last weekend, the situation in the Premier League title race and the influence the home crowd can have against Atletico.
Read a summary below…
On how he feels after his injury last week and the recovery from a previous ankle issue…
The ankle has felt good, since the winter break it has felt really good. Obviously that week off helped. Just Friday in training I overstretched my hamstring and a couple of interesting conversations, I obviously thought I was fine but the cautious approach was taken and Millie went on to be Man of the Match – perfect for the club. I sat out. I’ll train today, so all good on that front.
On James Milner’s performance in his absence last Saturday…
How many positive words have we said about Millie… he could play in goal and probably give it his all and try to keep a clean sheet for us. He can play any position. When he goes into left-back or right-back or whatever he shows how good a player he is and how good a professional he is. He did that on Saturday again.
On the possibility that Liverpool could be within three points of the Premier League title after Manchester City’s match on Wednesday night…
Our full focus is on our game, to be honest. We can’t affect anything that’s going on over in Manchester tomorrow night; it’s obviously their game in hand and they play against Arsenal. But, for us, our full focus is on here. If we win here, that’s all that matters. Of course, if we get one step closer if they do drop points then so be it. But one eye won’t be on that game, it’s a different competition – it’s the Champions League and we know it’s do or die. We need to get through to the last eight and we need to give everything to do that. We can’t be focusing on Premier League business, it’s full focus on the Champions League and hopefully we can take care of business tomorrow night.
On the key to Liverpool giving themselves the best chance to beat Atletico…
Over there we never had a shot on target – if we do that again we won’t get through. We dominated possession, which I believe we’ll do again tomorrow night at Anfield. But it’s about what we do with that possession, it’s about creating the chances and trying to be clinical in front of goal. That’s what we need to do tomorrow night, we need to create more chances than we did over there and when they fall to us we need try to take them, because we’re obviously 1-0 down and we need to try to overturn that. But, on the flip side, we need to be wary of them going forward and we need to try to keep a clean sheet to give us the best possible chance. We need a complete Liverpool performance. If we can do that we believe we can cause any team problems and we can beat any team. Hopefully tomorrow that’s the case.
On the difference Reds fans can make on nights like Wednesday…
They make a huge impact and a huge difference for us. But it’s something that us as players, and especially the fans, can’t take for granted. We can’t just show up and think the Anfield crowd is going to get us through, or they can’t think it’s going to be noisy so they don’t need to take part or whatever. We need everyone to be at 100 per cent tomorrow, whether that’s us or the staff or the fans – everyone needs to be at their best. Because we know the task we’re coming up against, we know how hard it’s going to be. Obviously, the fans react off our performance. So hopefully we can get off to a fast start and get them right behind us and hopefully it can be another special Anfield night.
On how he felt when Manchester City lost at the weekend…
I watched it, yes – a good game of football. Even last season when it was close for us, I didn’t not watch any games. It was a good game and obviously the result favoured us. It was quite nice sitting back and knowing we’d done our job at the weekend and we’re a step closer to winning the league without kicking a ball. That’s obviously a nice feeling. For Manchester United it was a good performance from them and a good result for them. For us, it took us one step closer to what we’ve all dreamed of. But now we need to take care of our business, we’ll focus on this Champions League game and then we know we’re two wins away from achieving [an end to] 30 years of hurt for Liverpool fans. We’ll focus on that another day – Thursday we turn to that. But at this time it’s just about focusing on trying to get to the last eight in a competition that has been so good to us. Hopefully we can continue that.
On the threat of this being Liverpool’s last Champions League match of the season, having reached the previous two finals…
We think of all outcomes. We did that when we were playing against teams over the last two years – even when we’ve gone into games in the lead. It’s a knockout competition and if you’re not at your best on the night then you go out. Whether you go into the game with a lead or go in behind, it’s no change. We know tomorrow night we could be out of the Champions League if we’re not at our best or things don’t go well. But we think about the positives, we think about trying to give 100 per cent performance. If we play the Liverpool way and the way we know, at least we can walk off knowing we’ve given it our all. Whether that’s good enough, we’ll wait and see. But we believe if we put in the performances we can beat any team. It’s up to us to show that. We need to be at our best to break this team down and if we do that, I believe we can create chances and hopefully score some goals.