Skrtel Pivotal To Liverpool Strong Finish

Liverpool returned to the Champions League, which is a major source of delight for the club and the city after having been without this premier European competition since 2009. Martin Skrtel was a major reason towards Liverpool finishing second in the Premier League. The Slovakian defender was close to an exit last summer, but he decided to stay at the last moment. He has been impressive last season and that is likely to cement his place in the first team for the upcoming campaign. Even though there has been some disappointment that they failed to win the title, Skrtel regards it as a successful season for the club.

Playing in the Champions League is extremely important for top clubs on two fronts – money and prestige. The top players want to play in this tournament and hence Liverpool have been finding it difficult to attract them in the last few years. Now, Brendan Rodgers will be able to go for the top names since they have Champions League football. Secondly, it also brings a lot of revenue with teams receiving more than £ 30 million just for playing the group stages. Given that Liverpool have directly qualified for the group, they can already look at a substantial increase in the revenue.

"It's the best competition in the world, everyone wants to play in it. I had the opportunity to sample the atmosphere of it during my early years in Liverpool and I'm glad I'll now be able to experience it again," said the defender to the club’s official site. Last season, the defender made 39 appearances in all competitions and scored seven goals. He also scored a couple of own goals as well. In terms of overall scoring, this was the best he had achieved as a Liverpool player up until now.