Barnes unhappy with 'negative' Liverpool fans who criticised draw

Jurgen Klopp’s side must win in the Champions League last 16 second leg after playing out a stalemate at Anfield on Wednesday night, a result that disappointed some Reds supporters.

However, Barnes looked at the positive side of things when reviewing Liverpool’s position in Europe and the Premier League.

“It was disappointing last night, but I’m not particularly happy with a lot of the negative sounds coming from a few of the Liverpool fans,” he told talkSPORT.

“It’s not the end of the world, absolutely not. Of course it would have better had we won the game, but a 0-0 draw is the best draw you can get.

“It shows how far Liverpool have come that people are disappointed with a 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich, who are a fantastic team.

“And I think a lot of fans are looking at the Premier League and saying, ‘here we go again’, because Manchester City have caught us, but now is the time to hold your nerve.

“It’s not all doom and gloom for Liverpool. We’ll still be top of the league even if we get a draw in our game in hand and we’ve lost one league game all season.

“I’ve said all along, don’t get excited about how well or badly you’re doing until March and April, because that is when you need to hold your nerve, grind results out and stick together.”

Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.