Oxlade-Chamberlain hails 'relentless' Liverpool after returning from long-term injury

The fit-again England international has been impressed with how Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have juggled Premier League and Champions League campaigns

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says his lengthy injury lay-off has given him the chance to fully appreciate the demands placed on his Liverpool team-mates this season.

The 25-year-old returned after a year out with a knee injury on Friday, coming off the bench in his side’s 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town that took them back to the top of the Premier League.

The Reds have been locked in a pulsating battle with Manchester City for the title and are into the semi-finals of the Champions League, with a first leg against Barcelona looming on Wednesday.

Liverpool have lost just once in the league all season and Oxlade-Chamberlain is in awe of how his team-mates have successfully juggled two competitions.

“The biggest thing for me this whole year, and I’ve said it to friends, is that when you’re removed from it you realise how big the pressure is on the boys,” he told the Sunday Times.

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“Pressure to produce really good results, every week, in all types of competitions, in different countries.

“I’d be working hard at the club, feeling I’d had a long day, then see the boys in the canteen, just back from a Champions League game in Italy or wherever, with their bags on their backs and they’re off to Bournemouth away.

“When you’re in it, you’re just in it. Removed, you realise how relentless it is.”

The former Arsenal midfielder also cited Jurgen Klopp’s high standards as one of the reasons behind the Reds’ success this season.

“However well the boys have done at the weekend, he’s the same exactly on the Sunday and Monday,” he added.

“He keeps demanding from the players.

“You can see how he’s living it himself, the demands he puts on himself and how that oozes out.”

City can reclaim top spot from Liverpool if they overcome Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday.