Liverpool ready to fly out of the blocks in Kiev - Henderson

Captain Jordan Henderson believes Liverpool will benefit from taking the long route to the Champions League final and says his team are ready to "fly out of the blocks" against Real Madrid.

Jurgen Klopp's side had to come through a qualifying play-off against Hoffenheim to take their place in the group stages, while a win over Brighton and Hove Albion on the final day of the Premier League season secured their involvement in the Champions League again.

But, instead of feeling jaded at the end of a long campaign in which the Reds have had plenty to play for from start to finish, Henderson feels the experience will be beneficial in Kiev.

"From qualifying against Hoffenheim and through the group stage, we’ve gone the long way," he said. "But I think we can learn from that and it will help us come Saturday.

"It’s been good. We prepared well for the Brighton game. We knew we needed to win to qualify for the Champions League and I think we did that superbly well, controlled the game from start to finish.

"It was a good game for us leading into the final and we've had a good preparation. We're ready to go and hopefully on Saturday we come flying out of the blocks."

Asked whether the club's proud history in the competition - Liverpool have been crowned European champions on five occasions - had encouraged him to dream of joining those former greats, Henderson added: "You dream about it as a kid and all through your career, how hard you work just to get to this point.

"It is a big moment. But you've got to focus on the game and what you've got to do on the pitch, that's the most important thing. Then the result will take care of itself."