Liverpool's flying full-backs ready for Barca test

LONDON:Neither Trent Alexander-Arnold nor Andrew Robertson have Lionel Messi's star power, but the buccaneering Liverpool defenders could play just as vital a role as the Barcelona captain in their mouth-watering Champions League semi-final.

Virgil van Dijk has hogged the spotlight among Liverpool's defenders with a superb campaign that earned the Dutch centre-back the Professional Footballers' Association player of the year award.

Ahead of Wednesday's first leg against Messi's Barca, Robertson and AlexanderArnold have emerged as essential contributors to Liverpool's bid for Champions League glory.

With 24 assists between them in all competitions, England right-back AlexanderArnold and Scotland left-back Robertson are pivotal figures in Jurgen Klopp's game-plan.

Robertson's 11 assists have equalled the Premier League record for a defender and Alexander-Arnold is not far behind, with nine, making Liverpool's full-backs are as much wingers as defenders.

It has become the most demanding, tactically significant position in the Liverpool team.

Without Robertson, 25, doing the job of two players with his lung-bursting runs up and down the flanks, Senegal winger Sadio Mane would not have the freedom to move infield, from where he has scored 24 goals this term.

Mohamed Salah's licence to roam from the wing is only possible because there is less need to track back defensively while Alexander-Arnold, 20, tirelessly covers every blade of grass on the right.

Klopp's bold system has reaped rich rewards as rivals struggle to find a way to turn off the supply line fuelled by Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.

In producing perfectly weighted crosses for Mane's double and a Van Dijk goal, Alexander-Arnold became the youngest Premier League player to create three goals in a single fixture when Liverpool thrashed Watford in February.

Then, when Robertson supplied Roberto Firmino with Liverpool's opening goal against Tottenham recently, AlexanderArnold matched him by crossing for Salah's header that led to Toby Alderweireld's decisive late own goal.

They are the kind of key contributions that have become commonplace this season and Robertson admits the pair's friendly rivalry is spurring them to ever greater heights.

"I always try and go forward. Sometimes my passes don't find people. But I do try and create. If I get two assists, I expect Trent to get three," Robertson said with a smile.

"We all need to chip in with goals and assists. It's not just the front three. It's not just the defence that keeps clean sheets, either. It's a team game."

Liverpool's unlikely heroes have taken contrasting routes to the top.