Liverpool’s Thiago Alcântara was signing the praises of Fabinho after The Reds’ progressed to the quarter-final stages of the Champions League.
Fabinho was back in his more natural defensive-midfield role as Jürgen Klopp’s men beat Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig, 2-0 in Budapest, going through 4-0 on aggregate.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané were the scorers, as they were in the first leg back in February. However, it was Fabinho’s performance in front of the inexperienced centre-back pairing of Nat Phillips and Ozan Kabak.
With Fabinho at the base of the midfield, it not only helped the back four but also allowed Thiago more leeway to play the kind of game higher up the pitch that he was brought to Liverpool for.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com after the game, Thiago was asked if he enjoyed the opportunity to push forward a bit more with Fabinho providing defensive cover:
“For sure, because you are always near the goal, you can create chances and you can score. So it’s a nice position as well.
“You can split it up a bit and move some lines forward, and you can be more confident and play with the strikers.
“He [Fabinho] is a great player. He gives us a lot of confidence on our backs and it’s awesome to play alongside him.”
Thiago went on to give his take on just how important the victory could be for Liverpool:
“It’s like a positive injection to our morale.
“I think we deserve to celebrate and to be happy with something, and from now on have this feeling that we have right now. And with that, we can win all the games that we have left.
“It’s been a tough period for all of us because in our worst nightmares we didn’t expect that we are now in this position in the Premier League.
“But we are trying to perform as best as we can and try to get better in every training session. I think this performance is a positive thing for all of us.
“This feeling we have right now, we have to celebrate a little bit with each other in a moderate way and with this feeling prepare the [Wolves] game and move on.”
Liverpool travel to play Wolves on Monday night in the Premier League. Then it’s a much-needed three-week break for The Reds before they meet Arsenal at The Emirates on April 3rd.
Klopp’s men will find out who they play in the quarter-final of the Champions League when the draw is made on Friday, March 19th.
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