Andy Robertson has urged Liverpool to be “more switched on” in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, with it “do or die” at Anfield.
The Reds were woeful for the majority of their first-leg meeting in Madrid on Tuesday night, with Robertson part of a defence that shipped three goals on the way to a 3-1 loss.
It was far from the level expected of Liverpool, particularly given the circumstances, but Mohamed Salah‘s second-half strike gives them hope of a comeback in the return fixture at Anfield.
That will be an all-important decider, played in front of no supporters, and Robertson has emphasised the need for the Reds to “create our own atmosphere” and take the fight to Real.
“It’ll be another empty stadium. But we need to create our own atmosphere,” he told Sony Sports.
“In the last 10-15 minutes, we couldn’t get near them” Andy Robertson reacts to a disappointing performance from Liverpool@AndyMitten @andrewrobertso5 @realmadriden @LFC #RMALIV | #UCL pic.twitter.com/5yJ4mr9F15
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) April 7, 2021
“It’s do or die. The next leg, you’re out or you’re in the semi-final. That’s what we’re fighting for.
“Of course, having 55,000 Liverpool fans in the stadium would make a huge difference, but that’s not going to happen.
“So we need to create our own atmosphere, we need to be better, we need to be more switched on and we need to cause them more problems. If we do that, let’s see where it takes us.
“We know we’re up against a very experienced team, they’ve won this competition more times than any other team in Europe and it’s a tough task.
“But we’ll be up for it, and hopefully we can play better than we did this week.”
Strangely, Robertson was asked if there was a belief Liverpool could reach the semi-final given recent results, despite the blow of having lost 3-1 in the away leg.
“We’ve always gone step by step. We’ve never looked too far ahead, that’s the way we’ve always worked. We’ve always gone game by game,” he replied.
“As boring as it is, it’s worked for us in the past and it’ll work for us in the future.
“We need to get by Real Madrid to even be in the semi-finals, then whoever gets through from there.
“The task at hand is obviously against us now, Real Madrid will be favourites to go through and we need to try and overturn that.
“That’s all our focus will be on, and then if we get through, great, and if we don’t, then we’ll have to deal with it.”
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