Brendan Rodgers may rest Steven Gerrard for Champions League showdown with Real Madrid

Steven Gerrard to be shielded from European action

For Liverpool, the beginning of November this year is a time of the year packed with big matches, and considering that Steven Gerrard has played every minute in the English Premier League as well as the Champions League in this season till now, his ageing body might be given a chance to recuperate by leaving him out of the action in Spain, as indicated by Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool travel to the Spanish capital to play a Group B game on Tuesday, and midfielder Jordan Henderson in tipped to wear the captain’s armband in Gerrard’s absence.

Liverpool have a match against Chelsea to play on the weekend, and given that Brendan Rodgers has previously stated that the Premier League is his priority, Gerrard is clearly being saved for the big domestic clash later this week.

The veteran Scouser has 127 European appearances in his career, and the void he shall leave will surely be felt by the English team who are up against a Real Madrid team playing at the top of their game.

Gerrard’s Exclusion does not indicate surrender: Rodgers

Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers said, “In Steven’s case, if he is playing on Saturday I have to look at what is the priority for him and us.”

However, he insisted his team still intended to play for a win, and that Gerrard’s exclusion should not be taken as a sign of surrender to the defending champions, a vastly superior team at the moment.

“We see them as an opportunity rather than a threat to what we are doing. The key, even though we know it is tough, is to make sure we are compact and disciplined in our game.

“I think we showed in the previous game, although the score was 3-0, we can still have moments when we can hurt Real Madrid and that will be the idea (on Tuesday).”

Rodgers’s shock-moves are not confined to Gerrard though, Raheem Sterling is also expected to be on the bench on Tuesday, but given the energy the youngster brings to the team, could be thrown into the fray as an impact player in the later stages of the match.

Possible replacements for Gerrard

This will be good chance for Adam Lallana(£23.7m) and Lazar Markovic(£20m), who have found first-team chances hard to come by, to try and justify the enormous price tag they went for in the summer transfer window.

Rodgers said: “We have spent an awful lot of money on players to come in and give them an opportunity.

“If at the end of this cycle of games they haven’t performed, they can never say they haven’t been given a chance.”

To rest Gerrard vs Real Madrid is like telling Elvis Presley that he will be rested for Las Vegas

— Jan Aage Fjortoft (@JanAageFjortoft) November 4, 2014