Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold could miss the second leg of the club’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Liverpool and Real meet at Anfield for the first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 encounter, in a repeat of last year’s final.
Both sides enter the game having endured disappointing domestic campaigns, however.
While Liverpool have enjoyed a mini-resurgence in the past week, beating Merseyside rivals Everton and top-four hopefuls Newcastle United, they remain in eighth, six points adrift of fourth.
Meanwhile, Real are second, trailing Catalan giants Barcelona by eight points at the top of La Liga.
In turn, both teams’ seasons could be defined by their Champions League performance.
Trent Alexander-Arnold to miss the second leg?
Alexander-Arnold will need to put in a disciplined performance against Real on Tuesday, given he is one booking away from an automatic one-match suspension in the Champions League.
Indeed, should the 24-year-old be cautioned he would miss next month’s trip to the Bernabeu.
This is due to UEFA’s rule which sees players who receive three bookings in a Champions League campaign sit one match out as punishment. All yellow cards expire after the quarter-finals and are not carried forward to the semi-final ties.
Alexander-Arnold will be up against Vinicius Jr at Anfield, with the pair having gone head-to-head during the Champions League final last May.
That time the Brazilian lost Alexander-Arnold at the back post to net the game’s only goal.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid absentees
Both teams will be depleted for the first game of the last-16 tie.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez is a doubt after suffering a shoulder injury during the win at St James’ Park after colliding with Kieran Trippier.
When asked if the Uruguay star would feature against Madrid, Klopp said in his press conference: “There’s a chance.
“From all the possible scenarios, apart from being absolutely nothing; that’s not the case. We have to see how he can deal with the pain [and] when we know that, we make a decision.”
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