Liverpool are preparing to welcome Spanish and reigning UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid to Anfield tomorrow evening. The Reds are in hugely impressive form and have not lost a game in any competition since September 14 against Nottingham Forest.

Andy Robertson and the Reds currently top both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. Before facing the Spanish champions, the Scot spoke to the media.

Is this a ‘revenge game’? Robbo had this to say:

“I don’t really look at owing people anything, or getting revenge or anything like that.

“Both matches (in the final) were different. I think 2018 was so important for our journey. Nobody really expected us to be in the final of the Champions League that year, and it gave us the confidence that we could get back into the tournament and win it the following year, which was so important.

“I think 2022 obviously hurt a lot more at the time; I thought we played well in the match, I thought we dominated the match. Their goalkeeper was Man of the Match, which probably says a lot. But they do what they do, there is a reason why they have won the league the most out of all the teams.

“But I think the team is too new, I think their team is too new, and we are just looking at tomorrow to try to strengthen our position at the top of the rankings because we know how important it is to be in the to finish top eight. are in terms of qualifying for the last 16 and not having a play-off.

“That’s all we’re focusing on.”

When asked what he sees in Liverpool’s squad that makes him believe they will be successful this season:

”I think we have shown that we can win football matches so far this season, but there is still a long way to go. Some of us have the experience of winning both (the Premier League and the Champions League); you need consistency, you also need a bit of luck along the way in terms of injuries and form and things like that. But so far we’ve had that, we’ve had good performances and maybe if we weren’t at our best we still found a way to win, which is good. But we are only 12 games into the Premier League, four games into the Champions League and I still think there is a lot of football to be played and there will be a lot of twists and turns. But when you’re in a good moment, you have to try to keep going and build that momentum. I think that’s what we’ve been quite good at so far, and we have to try to continue that, because we know that there are big games coming up and if we can get results in them, our position can become stronger .”

Is a win tomorrow night an ‘important step’ in the future development of this team?

”Yes, of course. Obviously since I’ve been here we’ve played Real Madrid five or six times and obviously we haven’t been on the winning side yet. But there are probably only a few of us who have been involved in that; it’s a completely different team, a new team where a lot of players probably haven’t played against Real Madrid against Liverpool yet, and the same goes for them: it’s a new team and new faces. When it comes to these big games and you’re playing against the best players and the best teams, you obviously want to be one, involved in the game and two, you want to get the result.

”It will probably be the most watched game of the week, and that’s what big players want to be a part of. And I think if we can win, it will put us in an even better position in the Champions League. But you also beat one of your competitors, which is always fun. We are excited about that prospect. But we also know how good Real Madrid can be and we know that they will come here full of confidence and confident that they can get the result. Hopefully we come tomorrow evening, then we will be the happiestS.”

Robbo was then asked about his leadership role within the team:

”There are only a few of us who have probably experienced success like in the two major trophies. And we all need to dig into that and we need to help the new players and the younger players because it can be quite easy to get carried away and look too far ahead. But I think we have enough in the locker room not to let that happen. That’s probably where we rely on me, Virgil (van Dijk), Mo (Salah), Trent (Alexander-Arnold), Ali (Alisson Becker) Joe Gomez, people like that, who have been there and done it, who can just put calm on everything and focus on the next match, because that is the most important thing. We are completely focused on tomorrow night and tomorrow night at 11pm we will be completely focused on Man City, and whatever happens there we will be completely focused on Newcastle. That’s just the way we work and we always have. I think this works best for our locker room, and obviously we play a key role in that.”

When asked about Trent Alexander-Arnold

“Trent is one of the best friends I have in the locker room. We went on a bit of a journey together. He’s obviously a fantastic footballer, a fantastic human being. I think the quality speaks for itself. The highest level. One of, if not the, best right-backs in the world, I think he shows that year after year. And people probably forget that he’s still quite young. He’s probably getting a little bit older now, but he’s still young enough to get better. That’s the most important thing for him. He has the will to succeed, the will to learn and I think you saw that this season. He is a pleasure to play with. We have grown a bit together as a full-back and I enjoyed doing that together with him.”

How did you experience Arne Slot’s opening months as management?

”The manager and coaches who came in were a breath of fresh air. They’ve come in with their ideas, there’s a lot of new staff and things like that. Credit to the players, I think we all believed in it, I think we all enjoyed it a lot. Look, results clearly help with that, results help build confidence with the coaches, with the players. I think that’s one of the main reasons, but also the amount of work we do on the training ground, the number of meetings we have, the amount of hours the manager and the coaches put in is incredible. They make sure we are as prepared as possible for every game, and it is up to us to then go out and play our best for them. More often than not, I think we haven’t done that this season, and hopefully it can stay that way. The manager and coaches have been fantastic since they arrived, everyone has enjoyed working with them. Hopefully it can stay that way.”

Andy was then asked about Mohamed Salah’s comments made after the weekend’s win against Southampton:

”He didn’t look sad (today)! Mo comes to training every day with a smile on his face, he works as hard in the gym as ever, he works as hard as ever on the training field. In that respect he is one of the happiest people on the training pitch, that’s for sure. He enjoys every moment he is there. You can tell. If you can find me a photo from today’s training where he looks sad, fair enough! But he always looks happy. He’s such a focused individual that he’ll probably be in his house right now, focused on tomorrow night. That’s the most important thing. That’s what all good players do, that’s what the best players in the world do – and Mo certainly falls into that category.”

Liverpool welcome Real Madrid to Anfield for the 8pm BST kick-off in the next round of the first phase of the UEFA Champions League.