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Thiago Alcantara is already enjoying a return to Germany with Liverpool, apparently.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have faced German RB Leipzig in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Thiago is currently out of the game with a knee injury, but should be back in time for the European showdown, to be played on February 16 and March 10, the first leg being the Reds’ first.
The Spanish international joined Liverpool in September after a trophy-laden season at Bayern Munich.
The former Barcelona midfielder has been restricted to just a couple of appearances for his new club to date.
He had to isolate himself for a period after testing positive for coronavirus, then suffered a knee injury against Everton on October 17.
The 29-year-old missed out on visiting Leicester City and Atalanta while missing the call-up to face Brighton, Ajax, Wolves or Fulham.
He was photographed at the club’s new training ground last month but is expected to be out of action until January.
Speaking at the end of November, Klopp said: “Thiago, maybe we need to clear it up a bit.
“That day when Thiago was injured in that challenge in the Everton game, there was another serious injury (in Virgil van Dijk) and after the scans it was as if one was very bad news and the other very good news because broken, nothing broke and things like that.
“But, as we now realize, it was still a massive impact to the knee. The problem is in a situation like that, there is nothing broken and nothing is broken and that means that everyone thinks: ‘Okay, you can go after a few days’, but the impact on the leg was so great that it is still not okay .
“He is not massive and he trains from time to time, not at the moment because we just have to realize that we have to take a few more steps. I can’t say exactly when it will be okay, but it will still take a few weeks with Thiago.
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Liverpool topped their Champions League group and will now face Leipzig, who qualified at Manchester United’s expense, in the first knockout round.
The first leg will be played on February 16 and the second leg will be played on March 10.
Thiago reacted to the draw by posting a photograph of himself on social media, along with the words: “Champions League round of 16” and “Liverpool FC v RB Leipzig.”
And the post, of course, was accompanied by the hashtag “#YNWA”.
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