"I remember when I first came to Liverpool, Pepe Reina helped with everything, and he made it easy for me. When I was Atletico Madrid captain, I tried to help everyone. These are the basics in football: you need to create an atmosphere and try to create a group of friends. It's not easy, and it doesn't always happen, but you have to try."

"I didn't realise how my life was changing. When I was 17, 18, 20, I didn't realise how big football was and everything around football. How many people live for football and love football. I was a professional, but I was a supporter."

"It's not easy to come somewhere new and have to find your place. You might feel someone doesn't like you, or you might need to find new friends. It's not easy, and I don't like this kind of thing. It's not easy, so you want to protect the players who are alone."

"Madrid is not as big as London, but it is true when you are coming from a big city like Madrid, nothing is going to surprise you, and I am very happy to move to a city like London. It is a big city, and you can do everything you want with the respect that the English people always have."

"Fitness is important, but the most important thing is how you adapt and the way you feel physically. To adapt to a new position. To try to change your game."

"You have to know what club you are playing for, or you just play for yourself. Every time I put on a Liverpool shirt, I know it is more than just a football game."

"Football is a team sport and not an individual sport. We win as a team, and every individual is better if we are part of the team."

"When I retire, the only thing that concerns me is that no one can say that I was a bad team-mate or disrespectful or self-important."

"I want to say thanks to the Chelsea fans because I have seen them very, very happy with me for joining Chelsea."

"At Liverpool, I had almost everything but titles. I felt like a king, but the team was falling apart."

"Liverpool is a fundamental part of my life. They don't remember me that way, but time will change that. I could not have chosen a better place to go when I left Atletico."

"My son is a Liverpool fan, and he was already kicking a ball before he was one. He was born in the football city; he had no choice."

"The Premier League is very difficult football and very different to when you play in Europe, but the player has to have experience to adapt, and this is the key point."

"The Champions League is a big ambition, and all the footballers want to play in it; it is a very important competition."

"After winning the European Championship with Spain, I know exactly how it feels to win a major trophy, and I know that, if we can win at Liverpool, it will feel the same or even better than it did with Spain."

"My baby will be growing up in Liverpool, so we have another Scouser."

"If football was a drug, I would have died from overdose."

"I always live in the present. I never dream about what might happen. Why? It might not."

"I've always been a sad person. I'm a happy person too, but it's a thing in my brain or my spirit or something, I'm just sad and really acutely aware of mortality and loss."

"When you have a bad result, you want the next game to come as quickly as possible because a good result will make people forget about the bad result."

"I know my statistics have not been the same as in other years but I'm fighting to get back to those statistics,"

"I don't know what to say about myself. I don't know myself (laughs). People say my humility but I believe we're all humble in our own way. I try to stay close to my family and friends."

"If I score against Liverpool I will not celebrate."

"I like changing my hairstyle, much to my mother's annoyance. It depends on my state of mind."