Xabi Alonso believes Liverpool’s dramatic European elimination is proof they will fight Manchester United all the way for the Premier League crown.
Rafael Benitez’s side came agonisingly close to producing one the greatest comebacks in Champions League history in their quarter-final tie at Chelsea on Tuesday.
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, Liverpool twice came within a goal of reaching the semi-finals before having to settle for an astonishing 4-4 draw.
Now the focus for the Anfield outfit in their final six games turns to surpassing league leaders United, who lead by a point and have a potentially decisive game in hand.
And echoing the sentiments of his manager, Alonso reckons Liverpool retain the belief they can end their 19-year wait for the championship.
“We are now thinking about the Premier League,” said the Spain international. “We are in a good moment and we have to try and keep that moment.
“It will be very difficult to win the league but we have to have a go and try to win all our games.
“Logically we should have more time to rest but sometimes you prefer to keep playing games. We are not happy because we are out.
“We showed that character is an important part of this team; we keep fighting when in difficult situations.”
Alonso was among the scorers on an extraordinary evening at Stamford Bridge.
And the midfielder added: “It’s hard to take that we are out. We had chances after the very bad result at Anfield, so we are disappointed we have not gone through.
“We feel as though we have restored some pride. Everyone has kept fighting to the end, at certain moments things were difficult, such as going 3-2 behind, but we scored two more goals and with 10 minutes left had a good chance to go through.
“We didn’t stop believing. And after the great first half we played, we had reasons to believe.
“We didn’t feel we had anything to prove to people, we want to prove something to ourselves because we wanted to keep alive and have chances.
“It is good that we are scoring goals, but on Tuesday we conceded a lot as well. We were trying to get over a difficult situation but probably we lost the tie at Anfield.”
Rafael Benitez’s side came agonisingly close to producing one the greatest comebacks in Champions League history in their quarter-final tie at Chelsea on Tuesday.
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, Liverpool twice came within a goal of reaching the semi-finals before having to settle for an astonishing 4-4 draw.
Now the focus for the Anfield outfit in their final six games turns to surpassing league leaders United, who lead by a point and have a potentially decisive game in hand.
And echoing the sentiments of his manager, Alonso reckons Liverpool retain the belief they can end their 19-year wait for the championship.
“We are now thinking about the Premier League,” said the Spain international. “We are in a good moment and we have to try and keep that moment.
“It will be very difficult to win the league but we have to have a go and try to win all our games.
“Logically we should have more time to rest but sometimes you prefer to keep playing games. We are not happy because we are out.
“We showed that character is an important part of this team; we keep fighting when in difficult situations.”
Alonso was among the scorers on an extraordinary evening at Stamford Bridge.
And the midfielder added: “It’s hard to take that we are out. We had chances after the very bad result at Anfield, so we are disappointed we have not gone through.
“We feel as though we have restored some pride. Everyone has kept fighting to the end, at certain moments things were difficult, such as going 3-2 behind, but we scored two more goals and with 10 minutes left had a good chance to go through.
“We didn’t stop believing. And after the great first half we played, we had reasons to believe.
“We didn’t feel we had anything to prove to people, we want to prove something to ourselves because we wanted to keep alive and have chances.
“It is good that we are scoring goals, but on Tuesday we conceded a lot as well. We were trying to get over a difficult situation but probably we lost the tie at Anfield.”
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