Gomez played down the importance of going back to the scene of their Champions League triumph.
Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has spoken about the importance of retaining an underdog mentality despite being the reigning European champions.
The Reds return to the Wanda Metropolitano, where the won the Champions League in June, to face Atletico Madrid tomorrow but the 22-year-old remains keen for further success.
As per the Daily Mail, he said: “It’s just about establishing yourself. You aren’t proven winners until you show you can do it again and again. We went (to Madrid) last season and beat Spurs in one game. Now it is about maintaining that reputation in the Champions League.
“People might say, ‘they’re performing well’, but as a team we have still got an underdog mentality. We’ve won the Champions League, but everyone is eager to win it again. The focus within the camp is just one game at a time. It comes right from the gaffer through the spine of the team — the skipper and Milly.”
Liverpool’s rampage to the top of the Premier League has been characterised by their relentlessness. They have an incredible lead at the top of the table but they keep pushing harder to win matches.
Similarly, they are the reigning champions of Europe, having been in the final the year before, but Gomez’s words make it clear he wants more.
So many teams in the modern era reach the top of the mountain, winning a big trophy or even reaching a final and then struggle so badly to motivate themselves to go again.
Liverpool are the opposite; their desire for success is insatiable, they have hoovered up the Super Cup and the Club World Cup to further that taste for silverware.
Now they’ve got their eyes on the big prize and with the Premier League wrapped up, they have the rare luxury of being able to focus almost solely on retaining their European crown, something which is so hard to do that it has only been done by Real Madrid since the rebrand in 1992.
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