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Andrew Robertson believes that the appearance last season in the final of the UEFA Champions League is a reference for Liverpool and that it would be a "great honor" to reiterate this feat.
The back side is aware of the fact that a Barcelona team with "an incredible three-way attack and an offensive threat" interposes. The 25-year-old is however used to overcoming such obstacles …
Having been released by Celtic at age 15 …
Barcelona v Liverpool: previous meetings of the Champions League
It was difficult. At this time of your life too, when you are at school, there are exams and a lot of things going on, it was difficult to manage, but that is when it is so important to have a good family and good friends around you, and thankfully, I had it at that time. I thank them all the time for that; they allowed me to cross that and it was not the ultimate goal. I knew there was life after that, no matter what it was. I knew that I just had to enjoy my football, take over the game and see where it was leading me.
On how the role of a back has changed
At the time, there was very little recoil and lateral defenders very rarely went beyond the median line. It was a solid line and it was your line of defense, but now football has evolved a bit. We have a number six position that probably did not exist maybe 10 or 15 years ago, and the midfielders can keep their position. This gives us more rights to the backsides.
Highlights: Porto 1-4 Liverpool
It has definitely changed in the last five, ten years and we are part of it. We obviously were in football when this change happened. Since I was playing in the back left, I was still trying to attack, even at a young age, but that was how it was. Now, it's completely different and the backsides are much bigger than maybe.
On the back of Liverpool offering creativity …
We work there and the manager knows that – especially it makes me and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] this season. We can deliver in the last third, but he always insists that we must first and foremost be defenders. But we have the license to go forward, and as long as the protection is good all over the field, one of us can go ahead or both to both if two midfielders are seated.
You have to find the right balance and sometimes it's time to sit down and defend your lead, especially at a time of the season when we fight for everything. I think we have become much more mature, even during this season.
In the semifinal against Barcelona …
Watch all of Messi's goals against English clubs
I think it will be incredibly difficult. They have an incredible front three and a threat of attack, and of course, they have the best player in the world, in my opinion, and that never helps us! We must be on our defensive game, but we believe that we can also cause them problems. We think we have an incredible front three and also people who can cause deeper problems, and if we can do it, hopefully, we can cause them problems and do enough to reach the final.
The semi-finals are exciting prospects, but they are also tense and emotional. We must control and hope to get the upper hand. We know how difficult it will be, but we are confident we can get the results we need to qualify for the final.
In confronting Lionel Messi …
Flashback in the semi-finals of the Champions League
I do not think you need to prepare yourself differently from other games. Of course, you play against a better player than usual – as I said, he is the best player in the world. You may be able to watch clips, although I do not know if that would help!
But I think we all have to be prepared because it drifts all over the field. You watch him and sometimes he is back in the center, picking up the ball from the back of the head. So he leaves right, but I'm ready for it not to stay on the outside. I know he'll attack us sometimes, and it depends on how we defend him.
On the prospect of reaching the consecutive finals …
It would be huge. Last year it was amazing for us to go to the final and beat Roma as we did. We know how great it was to qualify for the final, how exciting the end of the season was and everything that preceded the final. We want to be back there.
Watch the highlights of 2018
Of course, we had the disappointment in Kiev, but we used it to our advantage this season. Many teams might fear this and have such a good season due to the effect of training, but I think we did the opposite.
It was our benchmark and we have reached a new level this season. We do not know yet whether we will have a trophy or not, but the current season has been very positive. Getting to another finals would be huge. It would be an immense honor, but we know how difficult the challenge will be. Then we can think of everything that goes with it, because Madrid is much easier to access than Kyiv!
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