Steven Gerrard has expressed his confidence that Liverpool can soon find the levels of performance they so regularly showed last season as the Reds prepare to welcome Real Madrid to Anfield for an occasion that will live with you forever. The captain is no stranger to events such as Wednesday evening, when the Champions League holders take to the famous turf in L4 in a Group B contest that has been hugely anticipated since the draw paired the two sides together back in August. For he was a starring figure in a 5-0 aggregate victory over the Spanish giants in 2009, scoring twice in the home leg on a night when Gerrard and co were head and shoulders above their opponents in every department. Real are something of a different prospect this time around, arriving as they do with Cristiano Ronaldo spearheading an outfit blessed with attacking riches and as the reigning kings of the competition following their triumph over Atletico Madrid in May. But, with the Reds No.8 aware of the requirements to run out victorious from such challenges, the skipper has pledged that Kopites will witness their heroes give everything to the cause of creating another batch of memories. Everyone knows what this club is about and the history, Gerrard said at a packed pre-match press conference from Anfield. Its very important that we keep Champions League football here for as long as we can. It was a wonderful evening for myself and the team back in 2009, it was a fabulous team performance. Were looking for the performance level to be similar tomorrow night. Thats the way it will have to be if we want a positive result out of the game. Nights like that live with you forever; when giants come into town like Real Madrid, if you manage to perform really well and get a good result they are fantastic memories. Looking back at that game, the reason we came out on top was because we were very aggressive with and without the ball, we pressed from the front and we also had a world-class talent in Fernando Torres who set the tempo on the night. We forced Real Madrid into mistakes and our finishing on the night was very clinical. We all know that individually and collectively we all need to perform very well against this Real Madrid team. With all due respect to the team back in 2009, Real Madrid have moved forward, progressed and improved - they showed last year that they are a fantastic team. Weve got huge respect for the new Real Madrid team. Brendan Rodgers charges enter the fixture on the back of a second successive Barclays Premier League win, although it was achieved the hard way against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Sunday. A flurry of four strikes altered the landscape of the encounter repeatedly from the 87th minute onwards in London, but it was the travellers who ultimately prevailed courtesy of a Steven Caulker own goal in the final seconds. The assessments emanating from the manager, captain and squad after the final whistle insisted that there is considerable room for improvement, and Gerrard believes that can get underway from Wednesday night. He continued: The message is not just to them, Im involved in it myself as well. Im sure theyve taken it on board. We have been a bit up and down and it has been a bit of a stuttering season. There have been quite a few changes coming in; everyone is well aware that weve lost a phenomenal player in Luis Suarez and weve also struggled to get Daniel Sturridge onto the field. So its only natural that were going to have some teething problems before we hit the heights that we did last season. I have huge confidence and belief in this group of players that we can get back to the form and level of last season. It wont be very long. When the calibre of opposition like Real Madrid come into town, everyone is aware that we have to perform to our maximum to get any kind of result. For us, its a fantastic challenge that we worked very hard for. Were progressing as a team, moving forward and trying to improve. Ive been around for a long time - I know you only enjoy nights like these when you put in a good performance as a team. Were hoping that we surprise and shock a few people tomorrow night. We have got huge respect for them but tomorrow night is all about how we perform. We know were capable of playing better than we did on Sunday - and Im sure that will happen tomorrow. Gerrard was questioned specifically by visiting reporters on the obvious threat of Ronaldo, the Portuguese forward who has already scored 19 goals in just 12 appearances since his 2014-15 campaign kicked off. When Cristiano played for Manchester United there were signs that he was a world-class player and the figures he produced for Manchester United were very good, the midfielder concluded. But his game has gone to another level. Now hes arguably the best player in the world. He has improved year by year and with the goals hes scoring now, hes setting new records and taking the game to a new level. Hes a phenomenal player. But its very important we dont go into this game just worried about Cristiano because it would be very disrespectful to the rest of the Madrid team - theyre full of really good players and are a fantastic team. My focus is my teammates and the top players that weve got. Its important that we try to perform well collectively and try to make it as difficult as we can for this Real Madrid team.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 21:08:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015