Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sumptuous free-kick against Hoffenheim on his Champions League debut for Liverpool was certainly special, but his manager Jurgen Klopp refused to take any credit for it.
https://twitter.com/trentaa98/status/897586981345120256
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“It was actually because I told him he has to do it,” Klopp said at the post-match press conference before quickly adding, “I don’t want the credit for the free-kick because he can shoot free-kicks better than I ever could”.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/897565965877223424
Liverpool were deadlocked with Hoffenheim in Germany and 10 minutes before half-time, their young full-back stepped up and scored a memorable goal to give the Reds a definitive advantage.
“He is good in this and there is a big challenge after training always between him and Ben Woodburn. Both are good and both are improving in this. It is to his credit; maybe in this situation, it helps when the manager says Trent takes it and nobody else,” Klopp stressed.
The other full-back on the night, Alberto Moreno, was also an option to take the set-piece, but perhaps the angle was more favourable for a right-footer and the Liverpool manager was glad Alexander-Arnold took responsibility.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/897574306779062273
“In this situation, Alberto was also there for left-foot free-kicks, but it was good. Maybe it was a little bit lucky, you saw it because the wall did not jump, but it was a very good free-kick and very important for us,” Klopp enthused.
James Milner came on in the second-half to replace captain Jordan Henderson and forced an own goal from Haavard Nordtveit to effectively seal Liverpool’s progression and Klopp was thrilled that the experienced midfielder made such a significant contribution.
“The second goal also wasn’t too bad from a little bit of an older player – Millie came on and had a big impact on the game. Hendo had a long injury break and a really intense pre-season, so I was really happy I could bring him off a few minutes earlier today,” Klopp added as he signed off.
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