midfielder Fabinho believes Liverpool they will have to reinvent the spirit of their celebrity Champions League semi final win Barcelona have a chance to advance against real Madrid.
In 2019, on their way to winning the competition, they overcame the first leg by a 3-0 semi-final deficit to win 4-0 at Anfield.
On this occasion, however, the circumstances are quite different, as despite Liverpool still needing three goals, after losing the first leg 5-2, they will have to do so at the Bernabeu, where Real have failed to score just once in their last 66. European matches.
Fabinho, a former Madrid B-team player who was a first-team replacement once in 2013, is well aware that his former club is quick to “smell blood”, as demonstrated at Anfield, where they came back from 2-0 behind.
That said, he hopes the remaining members of Barcelona’s semi-final win, six of which will likely kick off on Wednesday, can find some inspiration.
“I think it’s important to have that mentality for a game like this because we have nothing to lose,” the 29-year-old said. “Everyone expects Real Madrid to win the game and reach the quarterfinals, so this game will be good for us because we go with the responsibility of playing for Liverpool and we try to play our best football.
“In this group, some players had a really good experience in the Barcelona game when they were behind 3-0 and we changed in the second game. It will be a little different because we won’t be playing at Anfield, so we have to be really motivated to play this game.
“Real Madrid smell blood and if they get an opportunity they will hurt you and if they get the opportunity they will score again.
“We learned a lot (from the first game) and we will try to have less exposure, but there will be moments of exposure, especially if we have to score three or four goals.
“But these are the things you have to try to react to instantly.
“We need to score but the most important thing is not to concede any more goals, so if we get a zero at the end of the first half that would be a good result because after that anything can happen.”