With only two of the Round of 16 ties officially decided, it’s too early to speculate about who Liverpool might end up matching up with in the Champions League quarter-finals. Dejan Lovren, though, isn’t worried about who they might face—he thinks whoever gets Liverpool will be the ones who are worried.
“We are ready for everything,” he told the club’s official website following Tuesday’s draw with Porto that confirmed Liverpool’s place in the next round. “Whoever comes, we are ready to fight. I think if we are ready and prepared to fight until the end, I am a big believer that we can see ourselves into the final.”
That last might rather be getting ahead of things—Liverpool would at the very least need to see themselves into the semi-finals first before talking about seeing themselves into the finals with a good performance over two legs—but on form the truth is that Liverpool will be the side many will want to avoid.
Outside of Manchester City, there may be no side left in the competition whose form in domestically and in Europe can match up with Liverpool’s, and while that might not make the Reds favourites in any match up it at least means they are a side that have it in them to advance no matter who they draw next.
They won’t find out who that is until another six games are played and the quarter-final draw is made on March 16th, though, and before then Liverpool have a major league match against Manchester United to concern themselves with, one where the winner is likely to end up favourite to finish second.
“It was tough from the beginning,” Lovren added. “It wasn’t our best game but we didn’t concede again, so that’s a good point for everyone. We had a couple of chances and could have scored, but in the end the most important thing is we are through and now we prepare for the next game.
“It will be a massive game—one of the biggest games in Europe. It will be a tough game and let’s see what will happen, but we are full of confidence and it’ll be a big fight for second place.”