Quarantine rules could force Liverpool to take on Atletico Madrid sans three key stars
According to The Athletic (Subscription Required) [h/t Liverpool Echo], quarantine rules could see Liverpool forced to take on Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League sans some of their biggest names.
The club vs country debate has escalated in the past few weeks as Premier League teams refused to let their players leave for the International break. The Brazilian FA did not take kindly to the stance and pushed for FIFA to hand out a 5-day suspension for players who failed to report for International duty.
In what could be considered a truce, footballers returning from red-listed countries could be exempted from the 10 day quarantine period. They would however have to submit to a 5 day quarantine period instead. The compromise is unlikely to do Liverpool any favours ahead of the clash next month.
Brazil faces off against Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier on the 15th of October. It presents a problem for Liverpool, who travel to Watford on 16th October before facing Atletico Madrid on 19th October.
This means that Reds would be without several key players namely Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino. Three vital cogs in Jurgen Klopp’s Red machine.
Of the three, Firmino could be replaced by Diogo Jota. Fabinho and Alisson’s absence could however prove to be more telling. Caomihn Kelleher appears to be the Reds’ second choice goalkeeper and could start in the Brazilian’s stead over Adrian. The Spaniard single-handedly lost the Reds the game against Atletico in 2020 and it would be unwise to trust him to do better this time around.
James Milner could fill in the slot that would be vacated by Fabinho while Thiago Alcantara could also take a more defensive role if the need arises. The defensive midfielder’s solidity at the back could be sorely missed especially against Atletico Madrid.
Just how the Reds plan to overcome this obstacle remains to be seen.
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Klopp has been mindful of rotating his players this season. The unavailability of these quality players will surely give him a headache. This could also prove to be a great opportunity for some of the fringe players to rise to the occasion and show off their abilities.
