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I’ll die for Liverpool: Liverpool colossal prioritised his team over pain

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By Siddharth Juyal

Resilient Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has revealed that he has played with pain since returning from a long-term knee injury. Konate suffered the injury during the victory over Real Madrid in late November and rushed his return against Manchester United.

The 25-year-old has played a pivotal role alongside Virgil van Dijk, forming a formidable defence during the season’s early stages. Konate struggled with nagging injuries before this season, forcing him to miss many matches for the Reds during his tenure.

However, the France international has featured more regularly under Slot until his injury against Real which happened due to a malicious challenge from Endrick. Since the start of December, Liverpool have conceded some careless goals which played a role in their result undesired results.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have formed a formidable defensive partnership, pivotal to their club’s dominance so far

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot deployed Joe Gomez in the absence of Konate but the Englishman suffered an injury too. Meanwhile, the biggest problems that caused Liverpool to concede a goal came from complacency and performance struggle from the fullbacks.

Speaking in the pre-match press conference (via ESPN), Konate revealed that he has played through pain for Liverpool. He said:

“I tried to come back 100% but I’m not because I rushed my comeback with my knee. I’ve done this for my team. I can die for this team, it is fine. My knee will come back 100% soon, it’s fine. I still have pain. I play with painkillers and that is enough for me to play. I was very close to coming back anyway. My plan was to train that week but when I saw Joe [Gomez] with his injury I was like: ‘Okay, I have to come back quicker.’ For sure, the first game I felt my knee a little bit, but it gets better day after day. The physios and the medical staff have done a great job for me.”

Slot needs to monitor the game time that Konate could sustain right now as he fully recovers from the injury. The France international is one of the key players for Liverpool in the title race and their ambition to win other trophies.

The Reds are currently at the top of the Premier League and the Champions League table after their brilliant start. Furthermore, Liverpool are still competing in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup which only increases the fixture schedule.

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Without Gomez, they only have Jarell Quansah as the natural defensive option to rotate with Konate and Van Dijk. However, reliable defensive midfielder Wataru Endo has delivered some brilliant performances as a make-shift centre-back for the team.

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