Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to make his Anfield return already as Liverpool gear up to face Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Both Liverpool and Real Madrid will want to come away with the win to try to cement their place in the knockout rounds of the competition.
The same thing happened last season with the two European powerhouses meeting one another in the league stage.
Arne Slot’s men came out on top in that clash, but now that Alexander-Arnold has left and is playing for the opposing team, it feels like there’s a lot more riding on this game than there was last year.
Nobody knows what sort of reception the Englishman is going to be given upon his return to Anfield, but no matter what, Alonso has claimed that the right-back must enjoy every minute of it.
Xabi Alonso thinks that it will be ‘nice’ for Trent Alexander-Arnold to return to Liverpool after his Real Madrid move
Many fans thought that Alexander-Arnold would end up like Steven Gerrard and stay at Liverpool for most of his career.
If he did this, he’d have likely ended up as the Reds’ captain, and he may have even got himself a statue outside of Anfield, especially if he continued to win titles with the club.
The right-back was never the best defensively, but the attacking prowess he brought to every game made him one of Liverpool’s best players.
Alexander-Arnold also chose to leave Liverpool in the worst way possible, as every single bridge with supporters was burned.
Despite this, Real Madrid manager Alonso still thinks that the Englishman will enjoy his return.
“We haven’t spoken about that [Anfield return] precisely, but we have spoken about the team, the club,” he said in quotes relayed by The Independent.
“He has to have his own feelings and enjoy it his own way, so I am not going to say how he needs to feel.
“For sure his history is different from mine, he was born and bred in Liverpool, I remember him from a young age in the academy and then coming to the first team and winning the Champions League.
“So he needs to enjoy that moment because it is nice to be back and for him it is going to be nice.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t all that likely to be used by Real Madrid against Liverpool
Although Alexander-Arnold was given a starting role when he first joined Real Madrid during the Club World Cup, since then, he’s had to fight to make an appearance.
Dani Carvajal and Federico Valverde have been the two players chosen by Alonso to take the reins, with the Englishman playing more of a back-up role.
Indeed, his recent hamstring injury hasn’t likely helped matters much in terms of his place in the team, but it’ll still make Liverpool fans wonder whether he was actually better off staying at Anfield.
If he does start or even make an appearance on Tuesday evening, Cody Gakpo is likely to run riot.
Tuesday’s game will be a massive test for Liverpool, with the Champions League tie proving whether their recent form has been justified or if they’ve just had some bad luck.
But, with the right-back out of favour, it feels unlikely that fans will see the Liverpool academy graduate on the pitch.
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