Andy Robertson Q&A | Real Madrid, Anfield comebacks, Trent and more

The Reds go into the quarter-final second leg at Anfield needing to overturn a 3-1 deficit from last week’s match in Spain if they are to progress to the last four.

Robertson acknowledged that Jürgen Klopp’s team put in a below-par performance at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano and has spoken of the determination within the squad to give a better account of themselves this time around.

The left-back fielded a range of questions from the media during Tuesday’s pre-match press conference. Read on for a summary…

On the opportunity of progressing to the semi-finals…

Look, we’re still in the competition. Maybe not many give us hope but we believe we can put in a better performance than last week and that’s the only way that gives us a fighting chance. We need to be better at everything we do tomorrow night, we need to put pressure on an unbelievable, experienced team and try to make it uncomfortable for them. And if we can do that and if the chances can fall to us and we can take them, then let’s see where it takes us. It needs to be a close-to-perfect game – we’ve done it in the past but we can’t rely on that. We need to try to create our own atmosphere tomorrow night, of course we’ve not got our fans in there with us and it’s up to us to create our own atmosphere and create a Champions League night at Anfield without the fans.

On how the team can replicate the night of their comeback against Barcelona without the backing of the Anfield crowd… 

The Barcelona game, I don’t think it’s any secret, I think the manager has said it before that that wouldn’t be possible without the fans. The fans made us feel 10-feet tall, they made us believe even more so. In that changing room before that game, we believed we could overturn it but walking out to 55,000 other people that believed, it just gave you that extra five, 10 per cent which makes a huge difference. But tomorrow we need to create that ourselves. Of course, our fans are watching it at home and they will be kicking every ball with us, but we need to try to create that atmosphere in the changing room before we go out and on the pitch. Like I said, we need to be better at everything we do in terms of what we did last week so that’s got to be the aim. We’ve got to have no regrets and at least if we can walk off that pitch [having] given our absolute all and we can know that we have left nothing on there – and that’s the key. If we get there, amazing, and if we don’t at least we can keep our heads held high. But our aim is to make it as difficult as we can and try to get to the semi-final because we know what’s at stake, we know how good this competition is and we want to be part of it for as long as we can be.

On his reaction to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s winner against Aston Villa and the spotlight that his teammate has been under…

To be honest, I would love to say the reaction was for Trent but I couldn’t care less who had scored it – I just wanted the three points! We know it’s getting to the point of the season where dropped points just hurt you that bit more in terms of the league positions and things like that, so it was just a huge goal for us. For me, it’s a sign of a world-class player: when world-class players don’t perform to the levels that maybe they have done then people criticise them more. People criticise them more than your normal player, or your ordinary player. For me, I know it’s hard for Trent but he should take it as some sort of compliment, the fact that so much noise has been made about him. But for me and the teammates and for somebody that’s close to him and that cares for him, it’s just about trying to keep his confidence at the highest level because when it’s like that, you know, nobody touches him. I thought on Saturday he put in a very good performance, I thought against Arsenal he was excellent. Of course he struggled against Madrid in midweek but we all did, not one of us played well but more gets said about Trent’s performance than anyone else’s. For me, he’s a strong character, he’s always been that since he’s been a young age and that’s why he is where he is – that’s why he’s at the top of the game at a very early age and he’ll come over all the criticism. But it's just about trying to not let it affect him and trying to do what he does on the pitch, because when he does that then I don’t think anyone can touch him.

On the importance of returning to winning ways at Anfield ahead of Wednesday’s tie…

Our run at home has not been good enough since Boxing Day in terms of the points that we’ve dropped [and] the defeats that we’ve came to. It’s simply not been good enough and to then get our first win of the new year there, it always makes a difference and then when you walk on that pitch tomorrow you get good feelings instead of negative ones, which have maybe been the case the last couple of weeks [with] the performances and the results we’ve had here. But we’ll go into tomorrow full of confidence, we’ve got nothing to lose. Of course Real Madrid are hot favourites and so they should be with the aggregate [lead] they’ve got, but it’s up to us to leave everything on the pitch, give a better performance than we did last week and give ourselves the best possible chance to progress because we don’t want to give up on our chances of getting through and we won’t do that until the last whistle has been blown. But we know how hard a task it’s going to be and we know we probably need an as-close-to-perfect performance as we can.

On how the state of the tie affects Liverpool’s second-leg game plan…

I think it’s important that we go into the game as a normal game. We go into every game looking to win so we need to play our own game, play a normal game, put them under pressure and try to win the game. That’s always our aim, whether it’s a two-legged game or it’s just a league game – being at Liverpool you’ve got pressure to win every game so that will be the aim. We’ll go into the game trying to cause them problems, trying to take chances when they fall to us and if we do that, in the later stages let’s see where we’re at. Hopefully we’re in the lead and we know exactly what we have to do because it’s important to try to keep a clean sheet as well. Defensively, we need to be on the highest mark as well as going forward. When the chances fall to us we need to try to take them, and we need to try to keep their chances to a bare minimum. We need to have an all-round top performance and that’s what we’ll be working towards over the next 24 hours and trying to get us in the best possible shape to do that and like I said, fingers crossed that will be enough on the night. But we know we’re up against a European giant, a giant that’s so good in this competition, and they’ll obviously have their own game plan, but we need to make it as difficult as we can for them.

On what was the overriding emotion coming off the pitch in Madrid last week...

It was one of disappointment, of course it was. I don't think anyone hid away from that in terms of post-match interviews and things like that. The performance wasn't on the level it should be. We gave away three cheap goals that probably could have been avoided. Look, we got an away goal, which is probably the only bonus of that night. Obviously getting that goal with Mo was big and it made it 2-1, which wouldn't have been the worst result but then we go and concede another poor goal from our point of view at the other end. It was disappointment walking off the pitch but we've given ourselves a chance. We're still in the tie, we're still in the competition and it's up to us to try to use that to try to stay in the competition. It's going to be tough, people have maybe written us off and people think Real Madrid will go through. It's up to us to try to change that and try to be as positive as we can be and put in a performance that can cause them problems. We need an as-close-to-perfect performance as we can, and if we do that then I believe it gives us a chance.

On what’s more daunting – having to beat Barcelona 4-0 in 2019 with a full crowd or Real Madrid 2-0 with no crowd...

Look, they're both as hard, they're both different but the same in their own way. Barcelona that night obviously was an incredible night and it wouldn't have been possible without the 55,000 fans in there, that's a fact. The noise at the start, the noise they made when we scored the first, it just carried on and they got louder and louder as the night went on. Unfortunately, tomorrow night we won't have that. But we're coming up against the team that's the most experienced in this tournament, won it the most times in the short history and the long history. They're a fantastic team full of quality and it's a big task for us. It's not the same as the Barcelona game and we can't rely [on] the fact that we came back from that game, [and] that we're going to come back from this one. It's a huge task in front of us but we believe that we can win the game, we believe we can win any game. If we do that, it gives us a fighting chance and let's see if it's enough on the night – fingers crossed that it will be. But that's got to be our aim. We've got to aim to win the game, first and foremost, and once we do that then let's see what the aggregate score is and let's see what we need to do. Our determination is to take our chances, to keep a clean sheet and hopefully make it as uncomfortable a night for them as possible.

On whether there's an extra incentive for the team because they may not be in the competition next season... 

To be honest, no. For us there's a chance to win the biggest trophy in European football and that's all we're going for. Luckily we've had a bit of success in the last couple of years and we want to continue that. We want to not just rest on winning the trophies that we've already won – we want to win more. That's our motivation, that's our determination. The top-four race and everything like that will take care of itself. We need to keep going in the league and keep trying to pick up points and hopefully the teams above us drop points. But for us, tomorrow night is just all about progressing to the semi-final because we've never looked too far ahead. We're still a long, long way off the final and even that becoming a possibility. So all I'm worried about is try to get into the semi-finals of the Champions League because I know how special they can be. We want to be a part of this tournament, we want to try to get through to the next round – that's all the determination. Unfortunately, we're coming up against one of the most experienced teams at it and their determination is the exact same. So we need to be at our best and we need to hope that we can take any chances given to us tomorrow night.

On Real Madrid's threats...

In terms of the players going forward for Real Madrid, they're so high quality, they showed their quality last week. The wingers both played well, Benzema's shown his quality for a number of years and one of the best strikers in the world. Like the manager said and like I've said previously, it's about trying to keep them out and try to keep a clean sheet because we know how important that can be for the tie. We need to score two goals, of course, and the more goals they score, the more goals we need to score. They showed how good they are going forward but I don't think we showed how good we can be defensively that night. We need to be better at getting the ball back, not giving the midfielders time on the ball and being able to get their head up and pick passes. If we do that then I believe we can make it more difficult for them. Of course, they're still world-class players that can make something happen but it's up to us to try to do everything we can to not allow that to happen. If we do that then I believe we can have a good game. But it's going to be an incredibly tough task, but I believe it's one we can do and one that we're going to have to do if we want to progress. That's the aim from us and that'll be the aim tomorrow night. Now we need to go out and do it to the best of our ability.

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