Boost for Reds as Fabinho and Thiago return

LIVERPOOL are confident key midfielders Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara will win their races to be involved in the Champions League final after they passed crucial tests. Thiago came off during Sunday’s 3-1 win over Wolves with an achilles injury but initial fears that it was serious were quickly dispelled. Fabinho, meanwhile, has been absent for the past two weeks after he pulled his hamstring at Aston Villa. But in a boost for Klopp, Fabinho was able to take part in full training yesterday and, when asked what shape he was in for the weekend, the Brazil international gave a thumbs up and replied: ‘Yes, I’m ready.’ Thiago sat out the open session and remained in the gym with Lee Nobes, Liverpool’s head of physiotherapy, focusing on strength and conditioning work. He was later joined by Joe Gomez, who hurt his ankle in the 2-1 win at Southampton last week. Provided Thiago suffers no adverse reaction overnight, he will be able to take part in training today and the feeling is that he will be able to face Madrid. ‘He has a good chance,’ said Klopp yesterday. ‘It was not planned for him to do this session with the players and it looks like he can be part of training tomorrow. That would be pretty helpful, obviously. ‘It’s surprisingly good. After the game I was not positive about it but we got news that night that it didn’t look that bad. We will see.’ Liverpool are leaving no stone unturned in their attempt to win a seventh European Cup to such an extent that Dr Niklaus Hausler and Patrick Hantshcke, the founders of German neuroscience company neuro11, were involved in the session. They have worked with Liverpool all season, trying to get the players to stay calm in highpressure moments such as penalty shootouts, and yesterday worked with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas, among others, on delivering free-kicks. All players taking set-pieces had wires attached to them to monitor their heart rates and today they will work on penalties. Hausler and Hantschke have been invited to join the team in Paris, with Klopp adamant they have contributed to two successful penalty shootouts. There was certainly an upbeat mood around the club’s Kirkby training facility and Jordan Henderson, Liverpool’s captain, made it clear the disappointment of seeing the Premier League title drift away on Sunday had been forgotten. ‘There is really good morale in the camp and I can’t wait for Saturday, to give everything to get the trophy over the line,’ he said. ‘We want it badly. I am not focused on whether that makes it a good season or whatever. I just want to win.’