Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas believes his side face a tough task if they areto overcome Liverpool on Tuesday night.
The clubs meet in a Champions League Group B clash at the Santiago Bernabeu and Casillas feels it will not be as comfortable an evening for the European Champions as some people are suggesting.
“Liverpool have to win and English teams never back down. They will be coming to a stadium where they’ve won before and will give it everything, but the immediate challenge for us is to win the Champions League two years in a row.
“If we show the same desire we did last year, why not? But first we have to get through to the knockout stages,” he told the Daily Mail.
The 33-year-old, who has been with Madrid his entire career, will be up against another one-club man in Steven Gerrard, provided Reds’ boss Brendan Rodgers decided not to rest the England international.
“These are the type of players who give a club its identity. Carles Puyol and Xavi at Barcelona and Totti at Roma are players with a genuine link to the fans.
“If you are happy and playing well at a big club then you never have a reason to go anywhere else,” declared Casillas, who revealed he plans to seek out Mario Balotelli for a shirt swap following the Italian’s controversial exchange with Pepe during the break at Anfield two weeks ago.
“You can swap shirts at half-time in Spain and it’s no problem,” he said.
