Georginio Wijnaldum says he discovered a new-found respect for Liverpool team-mate Roberto Firmino after playing as a false nine in the Champions League defeat to Barcelona.
With Brazilian striker Firmino only fit enough to feature on the Reds’ bench, Wijnaldum was pushed forward from his normal midfield position to play alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Wijnaldum failed to make much of an impact at the Nou Camp as Barcelona ran out 3-0 winners, but the Dutchman has revealed he spoke to Firmino about playing as a striker after the defeat.
He told Sky Sports: ‘After the game I had way more respect for Roberto Firmino. I already had it for the way he played as a striker but now I have even more having been in that position.
‘I know how hard it is to play well as a number nine for Liverpool, especially if you do it the way he does it and the way we want to play. It’s really hard.
‘I spoke with him after the game and told him how much respect I had for him playing as a striker for the whole season, because it’s so tough.’
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, has explained his surprising decision to utilise Wijnaldum as a forward in the Champions League match.
‘It was quite a big task,’ the Reds manager said. ‘I said to him: “What does it say about you?” He said: “I don’t know.” I said: “That you can play everything!”
‘When I told him that he plays the position, he was surprised himself. It was for different reasons and he needed 30 or 35 minutes to adapt really to it, but then he did brilliantly.
‘We needed this kind of player, an offensive player who is quite good in defending as well, because we cannot ignore the quality of Barcelona obviously.
‘But we needed a player between the lines who is good enough to keep the ball and pass the ball.
‘I know for people outside it’s easy to say, “[You need] another striker” or whatever. There are different jobs to do on the pitch. Gini did really well.
‘As a football player you have to be educated in a lot of things and he has this education. So it helped, it was really good.’
Wijnaldum also admitted the Liverpool team were ‘devastated’ after losing 3-0 to Barcelona. The Reds created a number of chances before Lionel Messi’ second-half brace.
‘We were really devastated,’ he added. ‘But you always have to regroup, even after winning a game.
‘We’ve had games where we’ve not played as well this season and won. With a little bit of luck, we’d have scored a few goals that would have made it easier for the return, but it didn’t happen.’
