Jordan Henderson Is Liverpool's Most Important Player in the Champions League

Liverpool's first return to the Champions League in five years was always going to be tinged with nostalgia given how much the Reds have longed for such nights during what have been frequently turbulent seasons by their standards.

The natural pride with which the club carries itself—as any club with five European Cups to their name would do—was always tinged with both regret and a sense of underachievement as they scrambled around outside of even the Europa League.

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The Liverpool that Jordan Henderson joined in 2011—after a season in which they'd recovered to finish sixth after an October spent in the relegation zone under Roy Hodgson—was about as far away from the Champions League as they've ever been in that time. Few have done more to get them back into it than the midfielder.

His reward? The vice-captaincy of the club, as announced by the Reds late on Monday night, and a place in the hearts of supporters who once doubted his abilities to hold down a regular place in the team. They weren't alone in that, as the man who signed him, Kenny Dalglish, the man who honed him, Brendan Rodgers, and Henderson himself would have shared similar views.

But as Henderson steps out for his first-ever Champions League fixture as both Steven Gerrard's metaphorical and physical right-hand man, he is the symbol of the fact that this latest, longed-for Liverpool assault on Europe isn't about nostalgia. It is about the here and now.

First comes Ludogorets Razgrad, then FC Basel and Real Madrid. Each challenge more difficult than the last until the moment that Liverpool line up against the European champions, a team they once beat in a European Cup final, once beat at the Bernabeu and once carved apart 4-0 at Anfield.

You can expect plenty of references to that game on March 10, 2009, when Real come to Merseyside on October 22.

It was a night when Liverpool—winners, beaten finalists and semi-finalists in three of the previous four Champions League seasons—simply blew away European royalty, with Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt, Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina all in the primes of their careers.

That side is a world away from this current one. Not necessarily in the quality of their football—although the March 2009 period marked the apex for Rafael Benitez's side—but more in their European experience.

Back then, Benitez's Liverpool expected to be in the top four sides in Europe, but now, Rodgers' men are seeded third in their group. As far as UEFA are concerned, over half of the teams in the Champions League are better than them.

Barring some sort of second-time-in-a-decade miracle, the Reds aren't going to win the Champions League. Gerrard told the Daily Mail that a failure to get out of the group would be a disappointment, and that is right, but anything after that is a bonus.

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No, this campaign is really all about getting Liverpool back on the European map and building up the experiences for future use.

In being appointed vice-captain, Henderson has effectively been told he'll be the man to take the armband from Gerrard when the fateful day comes that the skipper has to end his Reds career. Everything that the younger man does from now onwards should be geared towards that. In truth, it has been for the last 18 months.

Tactically, Henderson will be so crucial for the Reds in Europe as he continues to tirelessly scuttle around midfield, putting out fires one minute and seeking to get sparks flying at the other end the next.

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If the Reds are to play the midfield diamond, which has become the formation of choice for many supporters, Henderson's role in ensuring that they don't become outnumbered in the centre—particularly given the increase in gifted No. 10s—has already been established, but in the more difficult games, such as the one that awaits at the Bernabeu, he'll have to get forward, too.

The suspended Henderson's absence from the team at a crucial point of last season's Premier League title race cannot be underplayed, and as one of the figureheads of a young team who are being asked to learn quickly, how he fares in Champions League combat could have a huge bearing on others.

Rodgers would call it "another step on a journey," and how Henderson fares is going to have a big say in whether Liverpool ever get back to where they once belonged.

There's the nostalgia out of the way; now, it's time to get on with it.