LIVERPOOL -- Steven Gerrard has admitted that he may come to regret turning down the chance to play for Real Madrid, but insisted that he could not have left Liverpool.
The Reds captain has twice had an opportunity to join the current European champions, including in 2010, when Jose Mourinho tried to take him to the Bernabeu.
Gerrard will face Madrid when the visit Anfield in a Champions League Group B match on Wednesday evening. The 34-year-old has spent his entire professional career with Liverpool, having made his first team debut in 1998. He has had several chances to leave, with Mourinho also trying to sign him for Chelsea in 2005 and 2006, while Sir Alex Ferguson was also interested in him when in charge at Manchester United.
"I think it's very flattering to be linked to a huge club such as Real Madrid," Gerrard said. "I've had a couple of opportunities in my career to go to Real Madrid, but I resisted because of the huge connection to my home-town club in Liverpool.
"It may be something that I regret further down the line. But it would have been an even bigger regret to leave Liverpool. I'm a big fan of Real Madrid, but Liverpool are my No. 1 club."
Gerrard has acknowledged that Liverpool have not hit the heights of last season, when they scored 101 Premier League goals as they finished runners-up to Manchester City.
The Reds have won four out of eight league games this season and lie fifth in the table, but have kept just one clean sheet and were poor despite beating bottom club QPR 3-2 at Loftus Road on Sunday. They have also been unconvincing in the Champions League, needing last-minute Gerrard penalty to beat Bulgarian champions Ludogorets 2-1 at Anfield in their opening Group B match, before losing 1-0 to Basel in Switzerland.
"We've been a bit up and down. It's been a stuttering start," said Gerrard, who acknowledged that he had to take his share of responsibility for his side's inconsistency. "There have been a few changes. We lost a phenomenal player in Luis Suarez, and we've been struggling to get [the injured] Daniel Sturridge on to the field.
"It's only natural that we will have some teething problems, but I have huge confidence that we will get back to the form and levels of last season. It won't take very long."
Gerrard will go up against reigning FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday -- and believes the Portugal forward has taken his game up to a new level since his days in the Premier League with Manchester United.
The Liverpool captain said: "When Cristiano was at Manchester United, there was the sense that he was a world-class player. But his game has gone to another level.
"He's now arguably the best player in the world. He's improved each year. But it would be very disrespectful to the rest of the Real Madrid team if we thought only about Cristiano Ronaldo. And my priority is to think about my own team. We want to make it as difficult as we can for Real Madrid."