Keita ready to fly high for Liverpool at last says Klopp
CASEMIRO spared Real Madrid’s blushes as they escaped with a point after two goals from Emmanuel Dennis had threatened to give 10-man Club Bruges a famous Champions League victory at the Bernabeu.
The 13-time European champions trailed by two goals at half-time after 21-year-old forward Dennis twice found the net despite almost losing his footing on both occasions.
Real captain Sergio Ramos halved the deficit before the hour and, after Ruud Vormer was sent off for a second yellow, Casemiro equalised five minutes from time to the relief of Real’s under-pressure boss Zinedine Zidane.
The stalemate is still an excellent result for the Belgians, who were worth their lead at the break before eventually succumbing to Real’s onslaught in the closing stages.
“This wasn’t the result we wanted, especially playing at home,” said Casemiro. “They had hardly any shots at goal and they scored twice, but that’s how tough it is to play in the Champions League.
“Although we did a lot of things wrong, the good thing is we reacted well.”
A late sliding challenge on 19-year-old Brazilian Vinicius Junior from Vormer led to the Brugge captain being sent off in the 84th minute and Real capitalised on their numerical advantage from the resulting free-kick. JURGEN KLOPP believes Liverpool are finally about to see the real Naby Keita – the player most of Europe tried to sign.
The Reds midfielder has been dogged by bad luck since his £52million arrival from Leipzig 15 months ago, a nightmare culminating in injury while training on the pitch the night before the Super Cup final.
That has seen him play just 60 minutes so far this season, but he is back to full fitness and raring to go against his old club Salzburg in the Champions League tonight.
Klopp says the player who starred for the Austrian champions is the one that attracted interest from Europe’s biggest clubs for his ability in the most important transition of play.
He scored 20 goals in 81 appearances for them, but the Reds boss said: “I don’t think that tells half the story of the impact he had for Salzburg. It was unbelievably decisive.
“The pass before the last pass, very often the steal if you want, that made Naby the player that everyone was pretty much interested in. But there was no chance of getting him because
REF: A Ekberg (Swe).
HOW THEY STAND
DLthere was a one-way road between Salzburg and Leipzig.”
That transition from defence to attack is where Liverpool are so devastating.
So far this season, that decisiveness of passing has at times been missing though, not least at Sheffield United last weekend. Keita, according to Klopp, can offer that now he is fully fit.
“For Salzburg, Naby was always involved in this, like Sadio Mane was always involved, and it was the complex job to do,” he said.
“Being against the ball, defending with 100 per cent focus, and with the ball he made the difference, not in scoring but with the last passes and the pass before the last pass...”
Now, it is just a question of getting real match intensity in the midfielder’s legs. Klopp said: “He should be ready now. He was injured, came back and injured again so we have to make sure that will not happen any more. He’s integrated now, the last talk I had with him was in English and it looked like he understood. That is a big step.
“It was a big step for him to come here from Leipzig with big expectations, and hopefully you all still remember how good he started.”
Klopp confirmed Joel Matip and Xherdan Shaqiri will miss the Salzburg tie, though Matip has only a knock and should be fine for the weekend. Keeper Alisson is also fit but will not be rushed.