Liverpool Coach Raves About Champions League Winner's Return

A Liverpool midfielder is making his presence felt once again.

Fabinho has been a key figure in Jurgen Klopp’s central midfield. However, injuries prompted the German manager to relegate the Brazilian as a defender.

A change of scenery occurred during Liverpool’s last-16 second leg match against RB Leipzig in Budapest as Klopp decided to bring Fabinho back in the midfield. He put forth an impressive performance and earned the UEFA’s Man of the Match recognition.

Pleased with Fabinho’s return in his fine form, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders discussed the true importance of the 27-year-old in the Reds team.

“We didn’t lose only our last line [due to injuries], by losing our last line we lost our midfield as well,” Lijnders told Liverpool’s official website. “And that’s where we lost our engine, and that’s a big problem. It’s something that created doubt in many different tactical aspects.”

“Coming back to Fabinho as the lighthouse, a proper [defensive midfielder] ‘six’ just sees more, top teams and top players like Fabinho have in common that they have a huge spirit of initiative,” he continued. “That’s why when we speak about team development we are speaking indirectly about individual development – our idea forces this individual development.”

Lijnders further revealed that Fabinho is one of the most unselfish players he has ever seen. For the coach, admiring players like Fabinho is an understatement as most people love them.

“About Fabinho, I only want to say he has the capacity to make the players around him better,” the Dutchman raved. “It’s really difficult to find players who have the talent to make the other ones flourish. There are just a few players in world football who have this natural capacity to stop counters, for example; most of them just tactically foul.”

“[Fabinho] He just always puts the team above himself,” he added. “By the way, all our Brazilians have this characteristic. Nobody likes them, everybody loves them. In the same package you get someone who is only concerned about making the team better, there is no space for ego. He is a real team player.”

Fabinho, on the other hand, admitted that he “missed” playing in the midfield position before lauding the team's harmonious efforts.

“Yes, I missed it a little bit playing the midfield position,” Fabinho told the club’s website. “In general, our quality was very good tonight, the communication from our two centre-halves, the pressing from the offensive players was working very good.”

“Everyone was good, everyone enjoyed it, everyone pressed and we did the hard work."