Robertson’s injury sweat after bringing Messi down to earth
● Scot stood up to Barca stars but faces anxious wait on calf knock
Liverpool were transformed into an irresistible force as they produced their incredulous, mother and father of all comebacks against Barcelona on Tuesday night. There was only one jarring aspect of the fantastic 4-0 flaying of the Catalan behemoths that allowed Jurgen Klopp’s men to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit and earn a Champions League final place courtesy of some beguiling An field alchemy. The evening could yet compromise the irresistible rise of Andrew Robertson.
The Scotland captain was at the centre of a footballing sensation the other night even when he wasn’t. Had he not been kicked out of the tie by a sly jab from Luis Suarez as the Uruguayan ran alongside him, then his half-time replacement Georginio Wijnaldum might not have been on the field to plunder two goals in two minutes that instantly turned the contest upside down and back-to-front by allowing Liverpool to make it 3- 0 and leave Barca utterly disorientated. Robertson faces his only wobbles as he knocks knees in fear that a calf injury could lead to him missing Sunday’s denouement of a heavyweight bout of a title race that will only see Manchester City fail to land the knockout blow to the Merseyside team if they do not win at Brighton and Klopp’s men work the special Anfield ambiance with a final-day victory over Wolves.
It would be crueller still were Roberts onto be threatened with losing out on a second successive Champions League final appearance – following last season’s defeat by Real Madrid – with the decider against Tottenham on 1 June. The feat would make him the first Sc otto do it since Kenny Dalglish, Steve Nicol, Alan Hansen and Gary Gillespie for Liverpool in 1984 and 1985.
Robertson had a scan on his damaged calf yesterday and later appeared with the affected area bandaged up. It is only injury that appears to be the way of stopping a player who demonstrated on Tuesday night that he is not some wideeyed bit-part player pinching himself about his elevation from Queen’s Park amateur to mixer with the elite but a man whose sense of belonging among the glitterati is married to a grit wherein he bows to no-one.
He showed none of the deference to Lionel Messi, considered the greatest player of alltime by many, that can often be a factor in opponents appearing to wilt in his very presence. A week after an altercation with Suarez in the Nou Camp that led to the pair squaring up in the tunnel at half-time following a niggling duel, in the early stages at Anfield, the Scot shoved Messi in the head with both his hands as the attacker sat on the ground whinging about a challenge.
In standing up to these two footballing beasts, Robertson was sending out the message he would not allow himself to be slain by them on their reputations. Suarez mocked him when Messi curled in the glorious free -kick that, in making it 3-0 in the first leg, seemingly had taken the semi-final away from Liverpool. BT Sport inter viewer D es Kelly gave him the opportunity to deliver a riposte in the moments after his team’s spirit had delivered them a victor y in the realms of the magical. And the Glaswegian – as he has with his Anfield career following his £8.5 million move from Hull City in July 2017 – seized it.
“Who’s going to the final? We’ re going to the final so that’ s all that matters ,” he snapped. Robertson is going places that–post Darren Fletcher – seemed unimaginable for a Scot on the world football stage. He is mounting a one-man comeback for the nation’s footballing credibility.
‘He showed none of the deference to Lionel Messi that can often be a factor in opponents appearing to wilt in his very presence’