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(Reuters) – Juergen Klopp pressured midfielder Fabinho to act as an emergency central defender in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip on Wednesday and the Liverpool manager was not in the least surprised that the Brazilian found himself without problems. .
Fabinho coped with whatever the Dutch team could throw at him, making an excellent clearance from the line before half time to deny Dusan Tadic and helping Liverpool to a 1-0 Champions League victory.
“Was there pressure on the situation? Yes, it is clear for the two in the back, 100% … Fabinho can play the position, he likes to play,” Klopp told reporters.
“I am not surprised that he plays well in the position, otherwise we would have thought of a different solution, even when that would have been really difficult. I’m very happy for him … he gave him confidence, he certainly helped us.”
“If I had asked him to play as a right back, I don’t think he would enjoy it as much as he is enjoying the midfielder position. In our situation … we have to keep those guys in shape and then they can of course help us. a lot “.
Liverpool will have to get used to playing with central defender Van Dijk, who suffered a serious knee injury after a wild tackle by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on Saturday.
Klopp looked to avoid potential injury problems in his three high-scoring forwards, substituting for Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino with an hour to go in the soggy Amsterdam Arena.
“I think both teams can play better football, it was pretty wild at times,” Klopp told BT Sport.
“The field was tricky, deep, a bit muddy, both teams looked exhausted pretty soon.
“Three days ago he looked completely different … in training too, but it was the same for Ajax.”
Liverpool will face Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Edited by Peter Rutherford)
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