Thiago Alcantara injury: Liverpool midfielder has ‘good chance’ of recovery for Champions League final

The playmaker left the pitch at half time on the final day of the season but could be set for a rapid return

(AFP via Getty Images)

Thiago Alcantara is winning his battle to be fit for the Champions League final after Jurgen Klopp said the injury news was “surprisingly good.”

The midfielder came off at half-time in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Wolves on Saturday with an Achilles problem and Klopp said he was initially downbeat.

But while he missed a training session with the squad on Wednesday morning, he was working in the afternoon and is scheduled to rejoin his teammates on Thursday.

“There’s a good chance,” Klopp said. “He will be training this afternoon, he did some stuff this morning. It was not planned he did this session with the players. It looks like he will be training tomorrow [Thursday], which is pretty helpful.

“After the [Wolves] game I was not positive but we got news that night it was not that bad. It’s surprisingly good. We just have to make sure we do the right stuff at the right moment.”

Klopp said Liverpool had put the disappointment from not winning the Premier League title behind them, adding: “Nobody feels the pain from Sunday any more.”

Liverpool had three weeks to prepare for their last Champions League final, in 2019, and only one now, but Klopp said that is not a problem.

He felt they had too little time to get ready for the 2016 Europa League final against Sevilla but said: “Everything around six or seven days is absolutely fine, lesser is not too cool,” he added.

“In 2016, when we played a European final three days after the last game that is a problem, the season was similar with 63 games but a week is great.”