Gerrard hopes for Real Madrid repeat

Liverpool Captain Steven Gerrard has urged his team to give it their all and take inspiration from Liverpool’s previous performance against Real Madrid.

In 2009, Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield sending the Meseryside club into the Champions League quarter finals.

Gerrard was speaking to the press 24 hours before the game and said “Everyone knows what this club is about and its history and it is very important we keep Champions League football here for as long as we can

"That was a wonderful evening for myself and the team back in 2009, it was a fabulous team performance and we are looking for the performance level to be similar tomorrow night if we want a positive result.

"It is nights like that which live with you forever; when giants like Real Madrid come into town and you manage to perform really well and get a good result they are fantastic memories.

"Looking back at that game the reason we came out on top is because we were very aggressive both with and without the ball; we pressed from the front and we also had a world-class talent in Fernando Torres who set the tempo on the night and we all came in behind him.

"With all due respect to the team back in 2009, Real Madrid have progressed and improved and, like they showed last year, they are a fantastic team so we have huge respect for the new Real Madrid team.

"This is almost like a bonus game for us - a game we need to enjoy - but I've been around for a long time and I know you only enjoy nights like this when you put in a good performance as a team and we are hoping we surprise and shock a few people tomorrow.