Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool have “great confidence” that
they can beat Basel on Tuesday night and advance to the
Champions League knockout stages.
But Rodgers also stressed that his side should not rely on
inspirational captain Steven Gerrard and that the rest of the
team must also rise to the occasion.
The situation is reminiscent of the famous Anfield night of
2004 when, with Liverpool needing to beat Olympiacos by two
goals to progress, Gerrard scored with four minutes left to
seal their passage in dramatic fashion.
Rodgers said on Monday: “This is a competition which has a
great history here for Liverpool, and the Olympiacos game
was a part of that.
“But, in terms of Steven, we can't be just reliant solely on
him, this has to be about a team performance.
"We need other players to step up to the mark, to take on
responsibility and be a catalyst, and not place it on his
shoulders.
"It has never been about that for us. For us to get a result
tomorrow night we need for the team to be performing well.
"It is an opportunity for the players to write themselves into
folklore by winning the game and ensuring they get into the
next round, because that is the objective."
It would be a blow to Liverpool if their first Champions
League campaign for five years came to an abrupt halt at the
group stage but Rodgers says there is no nervousness in the
camp.
"We are only focusing on the positive result,” he said. “We
see it as an opportunity rather than a threat to anything we
are doing this season.
"It is a game in which we just want to stay focused on what
we have to do.
"The importance of the game is there: to get through and
qualify. In my time here we have had games that were deemed
as must-win games and, more times than not, we have won
them.
"We arrive into tomorrow night with great confidence that we
can get the job done.”
A draw would see Basel advance while Liverpool would go out
but Rodgers stressed that his side will not be overly gung-
ho.
"We don't need to win the game in the first minute, that is
the key for us," he said.
"European football is technical and tactical. We just need to
win the game and we have 90 minutes-plus to do that.
"We have to retain our patience and play a good technical
game and we have to be concentrated and focused. If we do
that, I believe we will have a great chance, aligned with the
supporters and the passion they have.
"We need that patience in the game. They (Basel) don't need
to win the game, they can sit back, so we need to be able to
move the ball side to side with freedom and if we get
patience from the team and the supporters that should help
us to go and get the result we want.
"It is a cup competition and if we get through we can put it
to bed for a few months, and hopefully it will give us that
confidence in our league form.
"It will be a great night and it is up to us to get the job
done."