For Andy Robertson, facing Real Madrid without fans means one thing: another ‘Miracle of Anfield’ is required to keep the Champions League dream alive.
The Liverpool defender is under no illusions about the size of the task as his side attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit and progress through to the quarter final.
He believes scoring twice without conceding in an empty stadium on Wednesday is every bit as tough as smashing four without reply on that incredible night two years ago, when Barcelona were vanquished in one of the greatest comebacks in European history.
But he knows if they’ve done it once, they can do it again. “Look, they are both as hard. Different games, but same in their own way,” he explained.
“Barcelona that night was obviously an incredible night and wouldn’t have been possible without 55,000 fans in there.
“That’s a fact with the noise they made at the start, the noise they made when we scored the first and it just carried on and got louder and louder as the night went on.
“Unfortunately tomorrow night we won’t have that. And we are coming up against the team that is the most experienced in this tournament and won it the most times.
“So it’s huge task in front of us.”
Not impossible though. Because miracles seem to happen often for this Liverpool side. On April 14 five years ago, they produced another stunning comeback to beat Dortmund on the road to the Europa League final.
And Robertson explained there is still belief coursing through Liverpool veins, even if everyone has written them off. “ We believe we can win the game. We believe we can win any game.
“If we do that it gives us a fighting chance, let’s see if it’s enough on the night. Fingers crossed it will be. Our aim is to win the game first and foremost, once we do that lets see what the aggregate score is.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Our determination is to take our chances, keep a clean sheet and make it as uncomfortable for them as possible.”
The desire to show the real Liverpool is strong in the squad, Robertson admitted, after a shocking performance in the first leg, when they looked shellshocked in Madrid. The pain, he says, is still strong, but the appetite to put it right even stronger.
“It was disappointing walking off the pitch but we have given ourselves a chance, we are still in the tie, we are still in the competition,” he said.
“People have maybe written us off, they think Real Madrid will go through so it is up to us to try and change that, try to be as positive as we can and put in a performance that can cause them problems.
“We are still in competition. Maybe not many give us hope but we believe we can put in a better performance than last week and that gives us a fighting chance. We need as close to perfect performance as we can and if we do that then I believe it gives us a chance.”
