Thiago accentuates Liverpool's injury crisis five days before the Champions League final with Madrid

Jürgen Klopp's face darkened as Thiago Alcántara, the most gifted player in Liverpool's midfield, turned to the bench with closed eyes and craned his neck as if imploring heaven.

45 minutes had passed in the first part of the game between Liverpool and Wolves, on Sunday at Anfield, and the Spanish-Brazilian player had just sent a long pass to the stands.

Something strange was happening in the precision machine on his right foot.

Something that can decisively influence the Champions League final that will face Liverpool and Real Madrid on Saturday in Paris.

James Millner, 36, replaced Thiago after the break.

With the last game of the day tied 1-1 and the Premier title at stake, Klopp had no choice but to turn to the old Millner, a player who exhibits obvious difficulties moving around the field after years of scrapping.

With Fabinho, the starting midfielder, in the recovery phase, Liverpool are running out of options in a midfield that has always been their weakest line.

The ailments of Van Dijk, the leader of the defense, add gasoline to the bonfire of personnel problems.

"Thiago was limping," Klopp said, after the match.

"I don't think he can play in the final."

Sources close to the footballer report that Thiago suffers from an inflammation of the Achilles tendon that causes pain.

However, they assure that the player, who has been summoned by Luis Enrique for the national team, will be able to play in the final on Saturday.

Thiago began to limp half an hour into the game against Wolves.

He came from giving a backheel pass that took the Anfield fans' breath away, for the assistance of Mané's 1-1 draw, and little by little he began to move in a strange way.

His movements slowed down, and in the heat of the transitions he was left behind.

From time to time he even changed the supports in an unnatural way so as not to load the damaged leg.

Liverpool have not reported the characteristics of the injury and neither have the player's representatives.

But it did not prevent him from competing, at least with difficulty, for several minutes in which his team lost control of the game due to their uncoordinated pressing movements.

“Physical and mental exhaustion”

At 31 years old, Thiago had recovered much of the physical form that he had lost since 2020, after signing for Liverpool.

The man dreams of making history this Saturday.

If his team wins the Champions League he will become the only player, along with Clarence Seedorf, to win three titles in Europe's top competition with three different clubs.

His adaptation, after two covid infections, seemed complete and his importance in the team increased with each game.

If Liverpool needs anything, it's a midfielder capable of imagining plays with Thiago's ingenuity and speed, and Klopp knows it.

Otherwise, the creativity of the attack is released to the outside game and to what the striker invents, be it Firmino or Mané.

Liverpool's match overload takes its toll on their squad and reduces their armament, to the extent that much of the team's power lies in the intensity of their physical activity, with and without the ball.

“I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we are very tired”, Fabinho told the 'As' newspaper a few days ago.

“For a month or more we have been playing twice a week.

We play Tuesday or Wednesday and then the weekend.

Game after game and always important games.

This makes you feel physically and mentally tired as well.”

Champion of the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier runner-up, Liverpool aspired to the four-time championship until this Sunday.

Thiago's injury makes his aspiration even more elusive.

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