Thiago Alcantara is “one of the players most overrated in European football”. The phrase is from Dietmar Hamanformer German player who played for Bayern Munich and Liverpool, two of the teams the Spanish international midfielder has played for.
“When things go well and you have a lot of possession, he’s a good player, but when there is a lot of pressure you don’t see him“, Has assured Hamann, who acted in the midfield position and who also wore the shirt of Newcastle and Manchester City before retiring in 2011 after 18 years of career.
Precisely, Thiago is the protagonist this Wednesday when it is known that the start of the League of Nations with the Spanish team is lost due to muscle injury. The midfielder of Brazilian origin will continue to concentrate with Spain until after Thursday’s game at the Benito Villamarín stadium in Seville against Portugal, corresponding to the opening day of Group A2 of the competition, and it will be right after when he leaves the concentration. The coach Luis Enrique Martínez will not call anyone to replace him.
Last Saturday, in the Champions League final that Real Madrid beat Liverpool at the Stade de France in Paris, Thiago played 77 minutes, before being replaced by Naby Keita, after having discomfort during the warm-up.
The truth is that the Spanish international has signed a very good season finale, after a few quite irregular first months. However, the technician Jurgen Klopp always stood up for him. “Do people question whether they fit into our football? Luckily these people don’t make decisions,” said the German coach. “He knew how we played and he knew he could fit in and we thought so too,” he added.
Thiago, who missed the Carabao Cup (League Cup) final against Chelsea due to injury and played in the Champions League final with doubts about his physique, has played 39 games this season in which he has scored two goals and given five assists.
