Firmino determined to ‘make Porto suffer’
Forward Roberto Firmino does not know if Champions League opponents Porto are afraid of Liverpool and their goalscoring threat but he hopes to make them suffer in the Estadio do Dragao.
Jurgen Klopp’s side qualified unbeaten top of their group after scoring 23 goals, a record for an English club and a competition total surpassed only by Paris St Germain (25), also this season.
Nineteen of those goals came from Firmino (six), Mo Salah (five), Coutinho (five) and Sadio Mane (three) and although one of that quartet is now with Barcelona it does not make them much less of a threat.
“I don’t know if Porto are going to be afraid but we are going to make their life difficult and make them suffer,” said Firmino, who has 20 goals for the season in all competitions.
The Brazil international’s tally for the Champions League this season is only bettered by Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has nine, and is on a par with PSG pair Neymar and Edinson Cavani, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Sevilla’s Wissam ben Yedder.
Asked whether he felt he belonged in such rarefied company Firmino added: “Of course I want to be at their level but I only focus on playing a good game.
“If I play a good game then the goals will appear. I am trying to give my maximum for the team and trying to be alongside these great players in Europe.”
● Real Madrid host Paris St Germain in the first leg of the other roundof-16 match being played this evening, which will be broadcast live on BT Sport 3.