Luka Modric told Sky Sports that he would prefer to play Liverpool at Anfield with a crowd and spoke about the ‘amazing’ atmosphere he experienced when visiting Merseyside with Tottenham.
The 35-year-old technician, who played for Tottenham during a four-year period, will return to England tonight hoping to knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.
Zinedine Zidane’s side hold a 3-1 aggregate lead from the first leg and Jurgen Klopp will be hoping his side can muster the magic they produced against Madrid’s Spanish rivals two years ago.
But the big difference is, rather than being welcomed by over 50,000 Liverpool supporters, there will be sways of empty seats on Merseyside, which will make life that bit easier for the away side.
Despite that, Modric honestly claimed that he would still prefer the crowd to be present if he had a choice.
“To be honest, I would prefer to play at Anfield with the crowd because of the atmosphere here,” said Modric.
“I played a few times with Tottenham, we played that game with Real and the atmosphere was amazing. Everyone wants to play with fans, with the crowd.
“That’s why we are not thinking about if there is a crowd or not or if there is an advantage for us or not. It’s a situation that we are in and we need to do the best we can in the circumstances we are in.”
Well, Modric, alongside his partner in crime, Toni Kroos, ran the show against Liverpool in the first leg.
Klopp opted to play Naby Keita instead of the more technically gifted and possession-builder, Thiago Alcantara, in the middle of the park.
With Liverpool struggling to make an impact with and without that ball in Madrid, it will be interesting if the former Barcelona academy product is brought into the starting XI tonight.
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