Firmino’s return to fitness leaves Klopp with headache
Jurgen Klopp faces a dilemma over striker Roberto Firmino as the Liverpool striker pushes to start the Champions League final following his injury lay-off.
The Brazilian has been declared fit to face Tottenham Hotspur, but his training sessions have been tailored since the end of the season and precautions were taken at the club’s Spanish training camp last week.
He rejoined his teammates for a full session at Melwood on Thursday and Klopp’s latest medical bulletin was positive without seeking to confirm Firmino’s starting place.
“He’s ready. He’s fit, he’s trained, he’s here and if nothing happened from the moment he left the plane until now, he’ll be fine,” said Klopp. “If he will start – if Poch afterwards says his exact line-up then call me and I will tell you our line-up as well. If not, then I thought I’d keep at least a few question marks open.”
Liverpool trained in Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano last night and will also hold a session at Real’s Bernabeu this morning, by which stage Klopp will know if Firmino should take his place in the line-up or on the bench.
Divock Origi could deputise, as he did so successfully against Barcelona, but it would be a serious setback if Klopp cannot start with his trusted front three.
Firmino has not started since Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Cardiff on April 21. He suffered the groin problem in training, and although he played the final 11 minutes of the semi-final first-leg defeat in Barcelona, what had been described initially as “not a big problem” was evidently more serious.
He was also a notable absentee when Liverpool organised a 60-minute practice session last weekend, so Klopp must weigh up how match-ready his No9 is – the same consideration facing Mauricio Pochettino with Harry Kane.
Klopp shrugged off last season’s loss to Real Madrid in Kiev as the “starting point” for a more streetwise side. “My feeling was we go again, we come back here [to the final]. This year we knew it was possible and that was an experience which helped us to make this special thing happen.”