Liverpool, May 24 (IANS): Admitting that Real Madrid are the overwhelming favourites for this season’s Champions League final, Liverpool FC captain Jordan Henderson asserted that his teammates may upset the defending champions if they play to their full potential.
With 12 European titles to their name, Real Madrid are the most successful team in the competition and Henderson is aware that Liverpool will face an uphill task in their quest to prevent the defending champions from taking a 13th crown to Madrid.
“They know how to win. They are a team of winners, individually they have world class players all over the pitch. They find a way to win and that’s what the best teams do,” the England international was quoted as saying by the Independent.
“That’s what we have to do at the weekend, just keep doing what we have been doing through the campaign — we’ve been brilliant. And on the day, be brave and play like we know we can and if we do that we can hurt them,” Henderson added.
Liverpool have done well this season, finishing fourth in the English Premier League (EPL) and reaching their first Champions League final since the 2006-07 season. They had lost 1-2 to Italian giants AC Milan on that occasion and Henderson is hoping for a different result this time.
If Liverpool do manage to defeat the Spanish giants, they will become the first English club to become European champions since Chelsea upset Bayern Munich in the 2011-12 season.
“Definitely not. We haven’t won anything yet. We have got to the final and we’ve done extremely well to get there but you are remembered for winning trophies,” Henderson said.
“Everything that happened before, you can use as a learning experience and hopefully on Saturday we’ll use it in the right way. If we do that we have a chance,” he added.
