Alisson Becker has opened up on his recent injury nightmare after making an impressive return to action in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Girona.
The 32-year-old started in Spain as the Reds maintained their perfect record in this season’s Champions League league phase, thus marking his first appearance since limping off with a muscle injury against Crystal Palace at the beginning of October.
Showing no signs of rust, Alisson produced a number of crucial saves during the first half to keep the La Liga outfit at bay and ensure the game was goalless at half-time.
He then made an impressive stop right at the start of the second half to deny Arnaut Danjuma.
Those saves in addition to commanding his box at set-pieces created a platform for Liverpool secure the victory which was given to them from the penalty spot as Mohamed Salah made no mistake from 12 yards.
Whilst Reds head coach Arne Slot wasn’t best pleased with the overall performance from his side, he reserved special praise for his goalkeeper who has revealed what he went through to return to fitness.
"It's great to be back, amazing feeling. It was a long wait for me this time," he told TNT Sport. "It was an injury after a small injury and then a big one.
"It's great to be back"
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Alisson gives thanks to the team behind the scenes following his return from injury 🌟 pic.twitter.com/FZ25Gw8dH8
"Nine weeks I think I was away, but working really hard everyday in the gym. When you are injured you work even more than when you are fit and playing and try to recover as much as you can.
"But when you are injured you have no excuse, you have to prepare, you have to stop for a while, then prepare, work hard. It's like doing a pre-season again in the middle of the season.
"I'm so glad to be back, I'm really thankful for the physios, the doctors, my personal pyshio and my personal fitness coach. All those guys who worked together with me this time."
Alisson more than played his part to leave Liverpool on the brink of officially qualifying for the last 16 stage with two games to spare - against Lille and PSV Eindhoven in the new year.
With Atalanta losing at home to Real Madrid coupled with Bayer Leverkusen beating Inter Milan, a couple of results on Tuesday have gone in the Reds’ favour and it remains to be seen if they have cause for further celebration following Wednesday night’s fixtures.
