Robertson: 'Special' Belgrade atmosphere can inspire us
Andy Robertson wants Liverpool to use the ‘special atmosphere’ awaiting them at the Rajko Mitic Stadium as an inspiration as they seek to strengthen their grip on top spot in Champions League Group C.
The Reds’ fourth game in this season’s competition will see them face Red Star Belgrade in Serbia on Tuesday.
A fortnight ago, Jürgen Klopp’s side beat Vladan Milojevic’s team 4-0 at Anfield, a result that regained their place at the summit of the pool as Napoli drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain.
Robertson, though, expects the Serbian champions to be a ‘different beast’ on their own turf, where they held Napoli to a goalless draw on matchday one.
The Scotland captain joined Klopp at a pre-match press conference in Belgrade on Monday - read on for a transcript of what he had to say…
On his expectations of the atmosphere…
We’re expecting another special atmosphere, of course. We’ve seen videos of the fans and it’s a special stadium. But we’ve got the experience of playing in these [kind of] stadiums before and we’ve just got to focus on the game at hand.
On whether Tuesday represents an opportunity for Liverpool to take control of Group C…
We play first and we’ve got a chance for a big three points and that’s what we’ve got to focus on. If we put it there then we're top of the group going into the last two games, which is obviously good for us. But we’ve just got to focus on the opponent that we’re playing and not the group. Hopefully we can get the three points and then we can focus on the last two games.
On whether last season’s Champions League run gives the Reds confidence ahead of facing such a partisan atmosphere…
Of course. There was a few of us new to the Champions League last season and we gained invaluable experience by going the distance, obviously, and just falling short. But I feel we’ve took that into this campaign already and we’re a lot more experienced in dealing with these things. The semi-final at Rome was a special atmosphere as well and we dealt with that pretty well, so we’re looking to do that tomorrow night.
On the challenge awaiting Liverpool on the pitch on Tuesday…
I think it will be [tough]. I think in the game at Anfield we scored at the right times and we were at 100 per cent. We knew if we were, we were confident we would get a result, which turned out that way. But I think they’re a different beast when they’re at home and I think they proved that against Napoli, obviously, getting a draw. They’ll be hoping to use that to their advantage, but we know if we play at 100 per cent again then we believe we’ve got the qualities to get the three points that we need and hopefully quieten the crowd.
LFC 4-0 Red Star in 90 seconds
On whether the atmosphere will motivate the Reds…
Of course, we need to use it to our advantage. Walking down that tunnel with the noise, the lads have got to use it to their advantage and not let it affect us. I’m sure we’ll do that. If Sadio [Mane] is saying that [it inspires him] then he obviously believes it and that’s good for me, and all the lads will be the exact same. We’ll go into the game and once we’re out on the pitch it’s 11 versus 11 and we’ll be looking to win the game. If we can get in front and start the way we started the last game, we can hopefully quieten the crowd. But once the whistle goes we’ll be focusing 100 per cent on the game and not the stuff around about it.