Be ruthless or trophyless, cautions Robertson

MADRID • Andy Robertson has warned his Liverpool teammates their impressive form over the past nine months entitles them to nothing when it comes to trophies.

The Scottish left-back has urged Jurgen Klopp's side to be ruthless when they face Tottenham in today's Champions League final.

Liverpool won plenty of credit for keeping pace with Manchester City in this season's Premier League title race, despite ultimately finishing a point adrift of the champions.

Yet, Robertson, 25, is aware that it would be "stupid" for the Reds to fall into the trap of believing they deserve silverware just because they have played so well throughout the season.

"I've heard a few people say that, but we don't deserve anything," he said. "At the end of the day, I think the Premier League shows that.

"We got 97 points and a lot of people would say that deserves the Premier League title, but it didn't, because Manchester City got 98.

"So we deserve nothing - we only deserve what we put into the game. We're not going into this game thinking that because we got 97 points and we played well this season, we deserve it, because it would be stupid of us."

  • Key battles: Liverpool v Tottenham

  • SADIO MANE V KIERAN TRIPPIER

    Trippier was the best right-back at the World Cup but, after losing his place in the England squad and being troubled in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, looks a weak link now. This offers a real advantage for Liverpool: Mane, the scorer of 17 goals already in 2019 and one in last season's Champions League final, is in terrific form.

  • FABINHO V DELE ALLI

    Alli is a survivor of that first meeting between Pochettino and Klopp. A player with a reputation for scoring in major matches has gone four months without a goal. Fabinho, meanwhile, has progressed as Alli has regressed. He helped Liverpool pilfer victory in the league meeting at Anfield as an influential substitute, but should start now.

  • VIRGIL VAN DIJK V SON HEUNG-MIN

    Perhaps van Dijk's most symbolic piece of defending this season involved Son, shepherding the less dangerous Moussa Sissoko to shoot at Anfield rather than pass to Son. The South Korean was the quarter-final hero, scoring three goals against Manchester City. Pochettino must decide whether to pick him alongside Harry Kane, or instead of the Englishman.

    Richard Jolly

Liverpool beat Spurs twice in the league, winning 2-1 at Wembley in September and then by the same score at Anfield in late March.

Robertson, though, has not forgotten the 4-1 defeat they suffered at White Hart Lane in October 2017.

He said: "We've been ruthless this season, but it's about being ruthless again; we need to take it into Saturday."

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, meanwhile, is keen to make a decisive contribution today and help lay to rest the demons of the defeat by Real Madrid a year ago.

The Egyptian injured his shoulder in a clash with Real defender Sergio Ramos during last year's final in Kiev and was forced to leave the field after half an hour.

Liverpool went on to lose 3-1 and Salah is fired up by the thought of scoring the winner this time.

"I hope I can play the full game this time. I'm very excited," he said.

"I hope we can right what happened last season, get a good result and win the competition.

"Scoring the winner is not just a dream, I hope it becomes a reality and I score in the final."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 01, 2019, with the headline Be ruthless or trophyless, cautions Robertson. Subscribe