Andy Robertson has warned his Liverpool team-mates their impressive form over the past nine months entitles them to nothing when it comes to trophies.
The 25-year-old Scottish left-back has urged Jurgen Klopp’s side to be ruthless when they face Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s Champions League final.
Liverpool won plenty of credit for the way in which they kept pace with Manchester City in this season’s Premier League title race, despite ultimately finishing a point adrift of the champions.
Yet Robertson is fully aware that Liverpool will finish without a trophy if they lose to Tottenham in Madrid.
He says it would be “stupid” for the club to fall into the trap of believing they deserve silverware just because they have played so well throughout the season.
“I’ve heard a few people say that, but we don’t deserve anything,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I think the Premier League shows that.
“We got 97 points and a lot of people would say that deserves the Premier League title, but it didn’t, because Manchester City got 98 and they were better than us. Not a lot better than us, but they were better than us.
“So we deserve nothing –- we only deserve what we put into the game, and we deserve what we get.
“But we’re not going into this game thinking that because we got 97 points, and we played well this season, we deserve it, because it would be stupid of us.”
‘Much bigger party’
Liverpool beat Spurs twice in the league, winning 2-1 at Wembley in September and then by the same score at Anfield in late March.
Robertson, though, has not forgotten the 4-1 defeat he and his team-mates suffered at Spurs in October 2017.
“We’ve been ruthless this season but it’s about being ruthless again; we need to take it into Saturday.
“You know, I’ve watched Tottenham over the past three or four years under Mauricio Pochettino and they are a ruthless team.
“The way they go about their business and the way they win games and the way they just destroy teams at times in the Premier League.
“They did it to us last season and if they perform like that, then we’ll be in for a hell of a game, because they’re a fantastic team with fantastic players.”
Robertson was part of the Liverpool side who lost last season’s Champions League final 3-1 to Real Madrid in Kiev.
The defender decided against flying away on holiday after that defeat, instead hosting a barbecue for more than 20 friends and family members at his home in the Merseyside town of Formby.
Robertson remembers not even wanting to leave the house after that defeat –- but then having to do so in order to buy a barbecue set for the gathering because he did not own one.
He is planning a similar post-match family get-together this time, but wants to have a Champions League winners’ medal to show off.
“I’ve still got that barbecue, so I don’t need to go to the shop this time,” he said.
“But hopefully it’s a much better occasion with much happier feelings this time, because last year was a massive disappointment. There’s no hiding away from that.
“But we know what hard work has to go in to achieve that, and if we can do it, then it will be a much bigger party.”
