Gomez Champions League heartbreak
LIVERPOOL defender Joe Gomez is out of the Champions League final against Real Madrid and this summer’s World Cup after surgery on his left ankle. Full back Gomez, 20, failed to fully recover from the injury sustained in the friendly against Holland during the international period in March and aggravated the problem in recent Premier League games against West Brom and Stoke City. He struggled with the pain and was left out of the squad for the fixture at Chelsea last Sunday before having surgery. Gomez shared a post on Instagram explaining the situation: ‘Gutted to confirm that my season for both club and country is over having undergone successful ankle surgery... ‘Been a tough few weeks trying everything possible to be available. The focus now is to support the team in the two biggest games of the season! Thank you for all the support over the course of the season. YNWA.’ It will come as a bitter blow to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with Gomez just the latest in a catalogue of injury setbacks at Anfield. Adam Lallana, Alex OxladeChamberlain, Emre Can and Joel Matip are all sidelined. Gomez has featured regularly this season, making 31 appearances in all competitions, but will now also miss Liverpool’s home match against Brighton on Sunday as Klopp’s men aim to seal Champions League football for next season. There is no timescale on his recovery yet, but Gomez will miss this summer’s World Cup in Russia which kicks off on June 14. England manager Gareth Southgate had intended to include him in his plans for the tournament as he sees him as a player who is more than capable in a back three and of implementing his tactics of playing out from the back. Now, however, Southgate must look elsewhere. Klopp must also settle on his defensive line-up for the Champions League final on May 26 without Gomez. After five matches in 17 days — including two clashes with Roma — Klopp has had the luxury of a full week to prepare for Brighton. ‘I’m really happy that this very intense period is over,’ he said. ‘Now we have one week to prepare for Brighton — that feels like a year and we will use that.’