Rest, recover, repeat: Andy Robertson reviews Real Madrid and ...

Second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo – along with a penalty save from Kylian Mbappe by Caoimhin Kelleher – ensured a dominant performance from the Reds was rewarded with a fifth consecutive win in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Next up is the opportunity to extend their eight-point advantage over City at the top of the Premier League.

And, speaking to Liverpoolfc.com in the aftermath of the victory over Real, Robertson stated: “As soon as the final whistle goes and you’re in the changing room, all of a sudden recovery starts, preparation starts for the Man City game. The coaches are already probably talking about it knowing them!

“But for us players it’s just all about recovering tonight and trying to get as much sleep as you can and then tomorrow doing the same.

“But already our minds have flipped on to how important the game is on Sunday, we look forward to another big game at Anfield and hopefully we can put in a similar performance as we did tonight because I thought every player stepped up and we’re going to need that again come Sunday.”

Read the rest of our interview with the left-back below.

On how the performance felt…

Pleasing. I think we dominated the game, I think we played really well from start to finish: the first half was really good and then second half I think we stepped it up even more so then we got what we deserved with the goals. Luckily we kept a clean sheet and yeah, I think everyone, to a man, was on top of their game today.

On whether Liverpool had to remain patient after a first half that they controlled but didn’t score in…

Yeah, we dominated the ball in terms of possession and going forward but they are always a threat on the counter-attack with the pace they’ve got and caused us a couple of problems. But second half I think we managed to shore that up a little bit and once we got in front it was a completely different game and we managed to keep our noses in front and push on from there. When you get the second, I think we’ve seen out the game pretty well.

On Conor Bradley’s display…

I thought he was excellent today. He’s had to be patient this season and it was obviously a big game for him today and he stepped up to the big occasion. I thought he was different class, I don’t know what happened with him when he went off but hopefully nothing too bad and hopefully he is OK because he’s a really important player for the squad.

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On the mental strength shown by the team after conceding a penalty and Mohamed Salah later missing a spot-kick…

Yeah, I think that’s experience. I think the penalty [he conceded] was harsh but there is contact and if the ref gives it then it’s not going to get overturned. I thought Caoimhin was getting a bit bored so I thought I may as well give my mate something to do! But obviously [I was] disappointed to do something like that, but I don’t think I made too many mistakes today if I look at my own performance so thankfully that one never got punished and [we] managed to dust that off and go again and finish the game really strong.

Mo [then] misses the penalty, which he would have been frustrated about, but he is another experienced player. Mistakes happen in football and these things happen. It’s just about how you react and I think the whole team reacted really well to the little mistakes that we did make.

On his assist for Gakpo’s goal…

Yeah, delighted. I think it’s my first one of the season – I think I’ve had a couple of balls that maybe could have had slightly better finishes! So, I’m just delighted to see one go in the back of the net and it’s obviously been a big part of my game over the years and I enjoy that side of the game and in such a big game I was just delighted to see Cody pop up and put it in the back of the net. That was a nice feeling and then obviously we just [wanted] to see out the clean sheet then and thankfully we did that.

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On another penalty save from Kelleher and the goalkeeper’s overall performance…

Look, he is sensational. He’s a phenomenal ’keeper and we’re very blessed, we’re very lucky to have two absolutely world-class ’keepers. The ‘world-class’ word gets thrown about quite often but I don’t think it’s wrong to say that Caoimhin is up there because any time he comes in, the biggest compliment you can give him is that you can’t tell that Alisson [Becker] is missing. I believe that Alisson is the best in the world and if that’s the difference then it’s phenomenal. Caoimhin has done phenomenal for us since Ali’s got injured. Obviously Ali is nearing fitness, which is great for us, but Caoimhin has done exceptionally well. Whenever he gets called upon he always steps up and that’s what you need from your goalies and thankfully he does that.

On the electric atmosphere inside Anfield…

Yeah, unbelievable. I think the biggest cheer was when Conor made the big tackle in the first half! It was a phenomenal atmosphere, we know these Champions League nights under the lights, they [the fans] always step up, they always produce, and we’re going to need that again on Sunday. We need it in every single game, that’s the thing, but we know they react off us so it’s up to us to set that tone to create that atmosphere and if we do that then hopefully we can have another special night.

This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.