Atletico Madrid's Marcos Llorente has extra motivation to beat Manchester United – his mother's quirkily-named dog.
During lockdown, Llorente bought his mum a dog – which she decided to call 'Anfield', in memory of her son's heroics at Liverpool's famous stadium.
Llorente scored twice at Liverpool two years ago, as Atletico beat Jurgen Klopp's side 3-2 to knock them out of the Champions League last 16.
With Liverpool being United's fiercest rivals, Spain international Llorente will have extra reason to celebrate if Diego Simeone's side dump Ralf Rangnick's men out on Tuesday night.
“During lockdown, I gave a dog to my mum,” said Llorente.
“My mum suffers a lot in my games, she gets very nervous. And that win against Liverpool stayed with her, the same as with me and many other people.
“It was a great moment for her, for me and for the family.
“As a way to remember it forever, she thought 'heck, I'm going to name the dog Anfield' and it would be a very nice memory for all of us.”
On drawing 1-1 with United in the first leg, Llorente said: "The team had a great game. In the end, if you're frustrated because you drew, it's a good thing, because it means you played better and you did more things than your opponent.
"I think that's the correct way of understanding it - on a positive note. The team showed they could compete with United and we're very excited about the return leg."
