Jordan Henderson on facing Luis Suarez: ‘I learned a lot from him’

Liverpool players could have a reunion with their former star striker Luis Suarez, who is currently playing for Atletico Madrid. After joining the Anfield club in 2011 January, the Uruguayan forward stayed in Merseyside till 2014 summer where he attained world-class status. The Reds will be next facing his current club, Atletico, in the reverse leg of the Champions League group match at Anfield. Jordan Henderson insisted Liverpool are focused solely on the challenge of beating Atletico and not a potential qualification for the last 16. After victories against AC Milan and FC Porto in Group B, the Reds defeated Atletico 3-2 in Spain last month. It meant the Merseyside Reds can confirm passage to the competition’s knockout rounds with another three points in the teams’ return meeting at Anfield on Wednesday night.

When asked about the challenges of facing a player like Suarez, Henderson replied, “A lot of challenges. I think we all know he’s a top player for a long time, produced so many good moments at Liverpool. I learned a lot from him while he was here, I’m quite close to him, I speak to him now and again. He’s a world-class player and he causes a lot of problems for defences, he’s always in and around the goal and if he gets a chance, I’m sure he’ll take it. So we’ve got to be on our guard with him – not only him, they’ve got world-class players all over – but certainly Luis is a top striker and will cause any team problems.”

‘He helped us a lot when he was at Liverpool’

Asked about how often he speaks to Suarez, the midfielder replied, “Not that often, to be honest, but now and again just to see how he is doing, how his family is doing and things like that. But not all the time. I think he helped us a lot when he was at Liverpool – mentality side of it, how he was in training, he always wanted to win. The things he played through in terms of pain barriers and things like that, he just wanted to get out, play football and try to do his best for the team. Like I said, I took a lot from him when he was here, I think he helped me massively, made me grow in confidence as a player. And I had a good relationship off the pitch but also on the pitch as well.”

Henderson also spoke about the reception Suarez could get from Liverpool fans on Wednesday. He added: “When Luis was here he was phenomenal for a number of years, he was outstanding. And I think the fans know that, I think the fans will appreciate that and what he did at this football club. I don’t think Luis will be too bothered but of course after the game it would be nice; maybe not during the game but after the game it would be nice for him to get a nice reception from the crowd.”

Asked how difficult it can be to face Atletico, Henderson replied, “It’s always going to be tough against Atletico, they’re a fantastic side – as we found out last game really. Quality players, work extremely hard together as a team defensively, good on the counter-attack. Diego Simeone is a world-class manager and he’ll have them set up in a way that he thinks can hurt us. But it’s down to us to make sure we perform on the night and if we do that, hopefully we can get another good result as we did in Madrid a few weeks ago.”