“It will be a tight race” – Klopp unsure about key star’s recovery in time for the Bayern game

Latest Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp faces defensive problems ahead of Bayern Munich tie

Jurgen Klopp revealed that Dejan Lovren did not travel with the side for their training camp at Marbella as the Croat fights against time to get fit for the Bayern game.

Liverpool are preparing for the Champions League encounter against the Bavarians next week but as of now, we have just one central defender fit to play that game. Virgil van Dijk is unavailable for selection due to suspension, while Joe Gomez is recovering from a recent surgery.

That leaves us with Joel Matip as the senior centre-back to face the Bavarian giants, and Klopp told Liverpool’s website (h/t Mirror) that the club will do everything to get Lovren back to fitness:

“Dejan is not here. That’s never a good sign, I would say, but we will try everything to make Dejan available for Munich. It will be a tight race.

“For him, it makes sense in the moment to be in another place to do what he has to do. It wouldn’t have helped if he was here, so we will try everything – that’s clear.”

Lack of other options for Klopp

The Mirror adds that Fabinho could be paired with Matip in the heart of the defence, however, the Brazilian missed the first day of training at Marbella.

Klopp, though, added that the problem was a minor muscle injury and that the Brazilian should be fit in a couple of days (h/t Mirror).

Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner also missed training due to illness, but the manager claimed the pair would be back in a couple of days, as per the report.

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It will be interesting to see what kind of defence Klopp puts out against the Bavarians in the first leg. Matip has done an excellent job since returning from a broken collarbone, but the quality of the German side’s attack would mean anyone stepping alongside the Cameroonian defender needs to put in a herculean effort.