Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid will be something special, reports the clubs official website.
The Reds face a double header at the midway point of the group stage against the reigning champions, having been drawn in Group B, alongside FC Basel and Ludogorets of Barcelona.
“Initially, we’re excited,” the boss said. “That was last season’s hard work, what we were working towards – getting Liverpool back into a competition where we are synonymous.
“To be back in it again, no matter who we were going to play, it was always going to be exciting. But to have Real Madrid in your group, the champions last season, is going to be special.
“I’m already thinking of Anfield on that night. But there are two other good teams in it along with us. It’s a tough group but we’ll really look forward to the challenge of getting out of the group.”
Despite the anticipation of a return to Europe’s elite competition for the first time in five years, Rodgers insists he is refusing to look beyond the first round and the target of qualifying beyond the group stage.
“The notion for us was to get out of the group stage – we can look no further than that,” he said.
“It was great excitement and hopefully it was great for the supporters to sit and watch the draw for the first time in five years.
“Now we know the teams that we’re playing, we’ll focus to get out of the group. That’s as far as you can look. Once you get out of the group stages, you take it from there.
“Preparation will start straight away. Some of the teams we’re well aware of; we watch the likes of Real Madrid nearly every week and we know their players.
“But as soon as the draw is finalised, the work and the focus will be on that. We have our analysis team behind the scenes who will do all the preparation work we need for our opponents. It will be exciting for them as well.”
