Real Madrid are a team that have hurt Liverpool in the last two finals that we have played against them in 2018 and 2022. You want payback.
Madrid are not running away with La Liga and their form, while not as bad as ours, has been in between a little. But it’s Real Madrid and they know how to win these games.
They were brilliant in the competition last season. When they seemed to be out, they beat Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
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Like Liverpool, they know how to get through in this competition. We have beat them before, and we can beat them again.
Clean sheets don’t matter as much now because away goals don’t count. We’ve got to try and win by a goal or two goals, but we’ve still got to beat them at the Santiago Bernabeu.
To do that, Liverpool have got to play like they didn’t against Napoli at home and like against Manchester City in October. Use the game plans like against them, and if you win 1-0 then you take it.
So the game plan is massive.
Stability in midfield
With all due respect to Thiago Alcantara, in terms of defensive stability, it’s not his game. Naby Keita can’t defend, end of story. He’s not a good defender.
Fabinho, when he’s on his game, is an excellent defensive midfielder. He’s just lost his form and he’s got to regain that.
He’s been involved in two good games now, and Klopp has got to go with the same midfield of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Stefan Bajcetic. The next one down to come in, the way we’re playing at the moment, is James Milner, who can help defend and keep clean sheets.
So they are the four main midfielders at the moment, with Thiago being out. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones seem to be out of the picture at the moment.
Klopp has got a tried and trusted midfield that he has to stick with. Henderson may need help along the way, playing only 60 or 70 minutes, because Liverpool need him in the team to start to get what you can out of him because he’s a great captain.
Bajcetic, I don’t want to keep going on about him because the hype has been massive. But he has been brilliant.
It’s like a breath of fresh air watching someone run through a brick wall and try to prove to someone how good he is. And it’s like a new signing in the January window.
He, long-term, could be a very good player. So Liverpool have got to build on that, but the club needs some new signings in midfield for the long-term, everyone knows that.
Liverpool need Trent back to his best
Liverpool will need Trent Alexander-Arnold to continue his form against Real Madrid, because the quality of the crosses he makes is frightening.
Anyone who plays against Allan Saint-Maximin for Newcastle will find it tricky. But Trent played against him fairly well, stood up to him and did a good job.
People point fingers at him, because when he goes forward and Henderson is in the team, he covers for him. Henderson is good at spotting that early, which other people can’t do.
Alexander-Arnold needs to get forward to be able to get the crosses into the box that Liverpool need to the forwards to score goals. It’s priceless, but you’ve got to have someone to cover for that.
Playing against Real Madrid will be a big game for Trent, because he still has to get forward and Liverpool have to score goals to get through the tie. At the same time, he’ll be up against a good winger in Vinicius Jr.
Liverpool will need to be at their game. They’ve got some great players like Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, as well as Vinicius.
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