Liverpool are on the brink of elimination from the Europa league after suffering a 2-0 defeat in the first leg against the Russian club Zenit St Petersburg. The five-time European champions have been unable to qualify for the Champions League in the last few seasons, and the Europa league has also not been fruitful to them.
However, the midfielder Lucas is extremely confident they will be able to progress into the next round due to the home advantage in the second leg. He has also said that the leadership of Steven Gerrard will be able to carry them as it has on several difficult situations in the past.
The former Porto winger Hulk scored the first goal for Zenit St Petersburg, which was followed by the goal by Sergei Semak. If Liverpool are knocked out of this competition, then the FA Cup remains as the realistic opportunity to win a silverware this season. Lucas has said that the club not only needs to play attacking football in order to get the goals, but they also need to be aware in defence as well. Lucas has recalled how he has been playing with Steven Gerrard for the past six years, and he has not seen the hunger to win diminish within the England international.
“I’ve been playing with him for six years already and every week we can see Stevie still has the hunger to win games and be the special player that he has always been for the club. He’s playing in a different position than he used to a few years ago and he’s still able to change the game. I’m just very happy that we have him on the team — his leadership always makes our life easier. We know about the special European nights at Anfield that the crowd give us,” said Lucas.