Michael Owen, who once made the same switch from Liverpool to Real Madrid, has spoken about what it was like to return to Anfield after leaving \u2013 and his story serves as a serious warning for Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of his own comeback.<\/p>\n
Alexander-Arnold is set to be in the squad for Real Madrid\u2019s Champions League showdown with Liverpool on Tuesday, just five months after departing his boyhood club on a free transfer. The move caused huge controversy, and although he admitted it was \u201cone of the toughest decisions\u201d he\u2019d ever made, the right-back is expected to be met with a frosty reception.<\/p>\n
The England international says he is feeling \u201cmixed emotions\u201d ahead of the tie. Speaking to Amazon Prime, he said: \u201cWhen the draw came out, everyone kind of knew it was written. I always felt I\u2019d end up facing Liverpool sooner or later, whether at Anfield or the Bernab\u00e9u. It\u2019s a massive game, a difficult one, but I\u2019m excited for it. A huge stage, a huge occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing the reaction he might receive from the Liverpool faithful, he added: \u201cHowever the fans choose to respond is up to them. I\u2019ll always love the club and be grateful for everything we achieved together. Those memories will stay with me forever. No matter what happens on the night, my feelings for Liverpool won\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owen\u2019s difficult homecoming<\/p>\n
Owen, who also left Liverpool for Real Madrid earlier in his career, only spent a single season in Spain before returning to the Premier League with Newcastle. But his first game back at Anfield was far from friendly.<\/p>\n
Some supporters booed him, and chants of \u201cWhere were you in Istanbul?\u201d echoed around the stadium, reminding him he wasn\u2019t part of Liverpool\u2019s famous 2005 Champions League triumph.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Off The Ball, Owen recalled: \u201cWhen I went back and heard a few boos, it felt like a dagger to the heart. After everything I did for the club and how much I cared\u2026 it really hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things grew even more tense when Owen later signed for Manchester United in 2009. Reflecting in an interview with The Telegraph, he admitted that leaving Liverpool changed everything:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I chose to join Real Madrid, I lost control of how people saw my career. I don\u2019t enjoy going back to Anfield now because I know I\u2019m not loved there anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
He revealed that the hostility began long before his United move: \u201cPeople say it\u2019s because I went to United, but the truth is, the resentment was there when I was at Newcastle. I even had a clause that let me return to Liverpool every summer, but it didn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owen summed it up bluntly: \u201cThat one decision in 2004 completely reshaped my relationship with Liverpool.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Michael Owen, who once made the same switch from Liverpool to Real Madrid, has spoken about what it was like to return to Anfield after leaving \u2013 and his story serves as a serious warning for Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of his own comeback. Alexander-Arnold is set to be in the squad for Real Madrid\u2019s Champions …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":53575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/resize-2.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53576,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53574\/revisions\/53576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}