Jordan Henderson never swapped shirts with Lionel Messi in Liverpool’s 2018/2019 Champions League semi final stage fixture because he didn’t want to be in awe of the Barca star.

The Liverpool captain says the idea was a lesson taught by Roy Keane during his time at Sunderland.

Liverpool were victors in the two legged encounter after going down by 3-0 at the Camp Nou and forcing an astonishing 4-0 comeback in the second leg at Anfield.

The midfielder spoke on how performing on the same pitch with the Argentine feels like although he’s an opponent.

"You don't think to yourself 'Oh my God - that's him,' but there's no question he plays the game differently to when you see him on TV. He's so fast.

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"Thinking about his free-kick now, I still can't believe he scored it. I actually thought he was going to take it short.

"I've told you how good I think Alisson is, but Messi put that shot in the one area Ali couldn't protect. The whip, the pace, the precision - it was absolutely perfect.

Asked whether he thought of exchanging shirt with the Argentine, the Liverpool captain said, “Did I think about asking for his shirt? No. I've never done it.

"Roy Keane" told me when I was at Sunderland that if you ask for someone's shirt, it looks like you are in awe of them."

Henderson did reveal that he did manage to go home with someone's top, as he added: "As it turned out, I came home with Luis Suarez's shirt.

"Luis is a good lad and he gave me it as a gesture as we had played together for Liverpool. I don't know what he's done with mine!"