We’ll Kop with the pressure
Jordan: Last season’s agony was a lesson
JORDAN HENDERSON says Liverpool learned a painful lesson last season as they get set to compete on the two biggest fronts in football.
The Reds suffered a hangover during their run to the Champions League Final last year, dropping 10 Premier League points immediately following their Euro games from the last 16 onwards.
A repeat would destroy their hopes of winning the title this time around, with Manchester City already top on goal difference, but the skipper is adamant his team will not slip up.
He said: “I feel as though we have got a good enough squad to cope with the games when they’re coming thick and fast.
“It’s down to us to keep performing, no matter what competition it is. We will give everything and just be mentally ready for the next few months.”
Henderson hinted the training camp last week in Marbella focused heavily on the team’s mentality and their attitude in staying on top of their game following emotional European nights.
There’s no doubt the remarkable run to the Champions League Final took TONIGHT, 8.0, LIVE BT SPORT 2 it out of the team and asked if there were meetings in Spain to discuss it Henderson replied with a smile: “There might have been!”
“It’s why Marbella was such an important week for us to get ready.”
But asked about the talk of pressure that seems to have surrounded Liverpool’s fight with City he brushed it off.
He said: “Whatever is being said outside you can’t get into all that. For us it is about focusing on the next game.
“We are in a good place at the minute so hopefully we can put on a good show.
“We have just been the way we always are and we’ve just enjoyed going to work every day with a smile.
“We have been having a joke but as soon as we go on to the training field it is down to business and we are focused on what we need to do.”
They face a real test against Bayern Munich tonight with the Germans reaching the semi-finals five times in the last six years – winning once.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who was in charge of Borussia Dortmund in one of those showpieces, said: “It’s a huge game, one you want to see and maybe that is the biggest achievement for my team – we’re back not only in the competition but people think we could win it.
“It’s two big clubs and I’m really happy to be part of it.”