Jurgen Klopp has said that the injury to Roberto Firmino is ‘no big thing’ ahead of the Champions League semi-final clash against Barcelona next week.
Firmino was ruled out of the game against Huddersfield on Friday night, with the news first appearing on Twitter yesterday afternoon.
In an official injury update on the Liverpool website, Klopp said that Firmino picked up the injury in training on Thursday.
“After training he mentioned a little muscle issue. We assess it obviously. It’s not a big thing but was enough to leave him out today, that’s all.”
OPINION
Liverpool didn’t miss Firmino on Friday night, blowing poor Huddersfield away in a ruthless 5-0 hammering. Mohamed Salah scored two and Sadio Mane also notched a brace, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson providing three assists between them. The game also marked the return of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after serious injury, which is another huge boost for the season run-in. Oxlade-Chamberlain almost made an immediate impact, nearly scoring minutes after being introduced, and it was great to see him playing again. From what Klopp has said it sounds like Firmino will be back against Barcelona, which is great news. We think they can knock the favourites out of the Champions League but they’ll need to be at their best and they’ll need all their players available. Firmino has been brilliant this season and adds so much more to the side than Daniel Sturridge, his replacement last night, did. The 5-0 win has put the pressure back on Man City who play Burnley tomorrow, and it means the double is still on but it’s a long-shot.