Jason McAteer believes bravery will be the difference between Liverpool claiming a sixth European Cup and tasting defeat against Real Madrid.
The Reds take on the reigning European champions in Kiev tonight and head into the clash as underdogs given their opponents’ recent pedigree in the competition.
Liverpool’s last Champions League triumph came in 2005 when they overcame a three-goal half time deficit to famously beat AC Milan on penalties in Istanbul.
And McAteer has called on his former club to believe in themselves as they look to come away from Saturday’s showpiece with club football’s most coveted piece of silverware.
“I think it’s going to be difficult – very difficult,” McAteer told Off The Ball.
“You’ve got a team like Real Madrid going for a treble [of consecutive Champions League wins] who are very experienced in this competition with very experienced players at this level of cup competition.
“It’s a one-off. People are saying Liverpool could beat anyone in a one-off game; I actually think Liverpool are psychologically better with a double header home and away because they always feel they can win at Anfield and turn a team over.
“And you saw against Manchester City and Roma they can afford to go into that second-leg with a bit of a gap between them. And you can hold on then which they kind of did in parts of both the away games.
“When it’s a one-off in a neutral ground and the atmosphere is electric, it’s really about who’s got the bigger knackers. You can go in with the best intentions but you’ve got to be brave and embrace the situation, because if you don’t, you can be three goals down at half time.
“You look at Istanbul and I don’t think they would have won if they were one or two nil down – it’s the fact they had nothing to lose. That’s when players become brave because they might as well try that pass and then the momentum changes.
“Hopefully we can go out there and get a nice little cushion and see the game out and win. But I think the Sevilla game will play its part because it’s about experience.”
Written by James Hopper
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