Khaberni - Xabi Alonso, the coach of Real Madrid, confirmed that his team is ready to face Liverpool, tomorrow Tuesday at Anfield Stadium, within the league stage of the Champions League.
Xabi Alonso said during the press conference: "It’s a classic match in European football, historically and currently, it’s a match that fans adore. Trent and I have our own history here, it’s wonderful to return to a place where you were greatly loved, but we are here to focus on our game and achieve a good result."
Xabi Alonso confirmed: We decide who will take the penalty, it's Kylian Mbappe, tomorrow if we get one, the first executor of the penalty is Mbappe."
Xabi Alonso explained about Arnold: "He's fine, he didn’t play because of the Valencia match, but he is available and can play, we need him, he has great quality, he's in a new phase and we need to help him perform well."
Asked about his time at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso said: "It influenced me a lot, it wasn’t a meaningless step, I spent five years with Rafa Benitez and learned a lot about sophisticated football, which helped me become what I am now. If you love football, you love playing here, those were wonderful years, they helped me as a player and coach, I still remember much of that period and it is still useful to me today."
Xabi Alonso emphasized returning to Anfield: "I try not to let my emotions cloud my judgement, I want to focus on the match, whatever happens will happen, I try to distance myself from emotions in every stadium I return to, I want to focus on what I want to do."
In response to questions about Wirtz's performance decline with Liverpool, Xabi Alonso said: "It’s just a matter of time, it’s a big change for him, he has spent his entire life in Germany, he needs to adapt, he is a very competitive player and that’s one of the reasons he is here, I’m eager to see him showcase his talent."
About the atmosphere that the stadium adds, Xabi Alonso said: "I believe many of them have experienced it, they know those moments in the match that generate strength and energy. They are very experienced players, they know how to behave well in heated atmospheres, it’s up to the players to play and I can’t play from the bench."
About scoring goals at a high rate, Xabi Alonso said: "This is something we must keep in mind, the match against Juventus was close, when you get the opportunity and see weaknesses, you can score goals and it becomes clearer with this system, the stronger teams score more goals in the early rounds and move up in the rankings, we are learning, if we get the chance to score goals we must take advantage of it. Then comes the knockout stage, if we finish the group stages in ninth place, things change."
