Fabinho switch and Thiago revival will have Real Madrid concerned

It will not be particularly difficult for the coaches and analysts at Real Madrid to spot the weakness in Liverpool’s team ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final. You can imagine Zinedine Zidane pointing at Ozan Kabak and Nathaniel Phillips before the game, telling his players: “There they are, the big lads at the back. Target them.”

A few weeks ago, it might have been an effective strategy. Now, though, Madrid are likely to encounter an unwelcome problem. To expose Liverpool’s weakened central defence, they will need to get through a midfield that has been dramatically reinforced by the return of Fabinho and the revival of Thiago Alcantara.

Liverpool looked like Liverpool again on Saturday night, when they demolished an under-strength Arsenal with alarming ease. Fabinho was everywhere, shutting down Arsenal’s counter-attacks before Arsenal had even thought of them, and the masterful Thiago played like the midfielder that Liverpool thought they had signed in the summer.

It is no coincidence, clearly, that Thiago is rediscovering his form now that Fabinho has been reinstated in his best position. Jurgen Klopp’s side have won their last three matches in all competitions, scoring six goals and conceding none, and they have done so with both Fabinho and Thiago in their midfield at last.

Before this sudden upturn, the two players had started six matches together in 2021. Liverpool did not win any of them. The difference? Fabinho was playing in defence, leaving Thiago without his protection in midfield. Since Fabinho’s return to his preferred role at the base of Liverpool’s central three, Thiago has been able to play the ball forward without worrying about having to run all the way back.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is another obvious beneficiary of the added security in the middle. He was relentless in his attacking efforts at the Emirates, pushing high up the pitch and playing the cross — a wonderful, whipped, accurate cross — that allowed Diogo Jota to score the opening goal.

It all stemmed from Fabinho, and so much will rest on his shoulders again in midweek. He will hardly lack motivation, either: he is a former Madrid player, although he only made one appearance for their first team. Thiago, a product of the Barcelona academy, will also have his own personal incentives.

Thiago’s struggles this season have prompted plenty of scoffing from opposition fans. This is a product of his reputation, and the hype around his arrival in England, but a player of his ability was never going to stay quiet for long. Against Arsenal, who were missing the influential Granit Xhaka in midfield, he was cruising throughout.

With Dani Ceballos harried and cowed, it fell to Thomas Partey to essentially shut down the entire Liverpool midfield. He gave a good effort, as you would expect from a player of his quality, but he had no chance against the trio of Fabinho, Thiago and James Milner. Every time Arsenal tried to move forward, Fabinho and Thiago snatched the ball away again.

No player made more tackles than Fabinho’s six, and no player regained possession more times than Thiago. Their aggression laid the platform for Liverpool’s famous counter-pressing, which Klopp said was of “the highest level”, and ensured that Arsenal’s forwards could not put any pressure on Kabak and Phillips at the back.

Madrid will naturally present a greater challenge. If Ceballos was at the level of Luka Modric or Toni Kroos, he would not have been loaned to Arsenal by the Spanish giants. Karim Benzema is far more dangerous than Alexandre Lacazette, and Raphael Varane is far more imposing than Rob Holding. But Liverpool’s performance will give them belief, especially if Mohamed Salah, the scorer of their second, maintains this level of sharpness in attack.

What Mikel Arteta would give for a strikefore of Liverpool’s potency and flexibility. With Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe injured, the Arsenal manager selected Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe in the same attack for the first time this season.

It says so much about Arsenal’s off-field decision-making over the last few years that these three players are the most expensive in the club’s history. They played like a mid-table attack, locked up and rendered irrelevant by the brilliance of Thiago and Fabinho.