Napoli forward Dries Mertens has questioned what is so special about the ‘This is Anfield’ sign at Anfield.
The sign is an iconic part of the stadium’s tunnel with many of the clubs players routinely touching the sign as they make their way towards the pitch.
Mertens, who played at Anfield while he was at Utretcht in the Europa League in 2010, questioned what was so special about the famed sign as well as why Anfield had developed such a reputation for being a tough place to go play.
“My strongest memory is that they have a sign saying ‘This is Anfield’ and everyone was talking about it, so I was thinking it’s very big, you know,” he told The Times.
“I came through the tunnel and I asked, ‘Where is the thing?’ and they said you missed it and I hadn’t noticed it.
“So, in the second half, I’m looking at this small thing and asking, ‘Is this so special?’
“Football in Italy is crazy and the people are very crazy, too, so I think we are used to it. For me, it will push me to a different level, these are the nights we want to play.”
Liverpool need to win tonight to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages with a 1-0 win or by two goals to progress and manager Jurgen Klopp said he is confident his side will get what they deserve if there’s no ‘special’ decisions from the referee.
“We knew after the Napoli game [in the second round of games] it was not good and Belgrade was not any better,” Klopp said ahead of Tuesday night’s Group C clash at Anfield.
“So far at home we have been good and we need to be even better on Tuesday. I told the boys if nothing special happens with a referee decision we will get what we deserve.”
