If Darwin Nunez has found few reasons to be cheerful with Liverpool in recent weeks, tonight's Champions League visit of Rangers represents the ideal fixture to raise spirits. After all, there are distinct parallels to the last time the striker encountered the Scottish superpower.
Just under two years ago, Nunez was still finding his feet at Benfica when Rangers were in town for a Europa League group match. The forward began on the bench before, with his side trailing 3-1, he was introduced with half-an-hour remaining.
The impact was decisive, the Uruguayan creating one goal before notching a dramatic injury-time equaliser to further a burgeoning reputation having netted a hat-trick on his debut in European competition a few weeks earlier at Polish side Lech Poznan.
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This evening, though, Nunez will hope for more than a mere bit-part role with Liverpool, like their £85million new forward, still struggling to hit their stride this season.
While a minor hamstring complaint restricted the 23-year-old to a few minutes late on in Saturday's 3-3 home Premier League draw with Brighton and Hove Albion, Nunez has otherwise made just two starts since his summer move to Anfield with Roberto Firmino and, in the last Champions League game at home to Ajax, Diogo Jota preferred by Jurgen Klopp to lead the line.
With Nunez very much in the formative stages of his Liverpool career, Klopp sought to remove any pressure from the striker's shoulders when revealing the lengthy discussions held at the weekend with the player over his ongoing integration into a currently underwhelming Reds side.
Europe, though, has proven fertile ground for Nunez, who netted 11 times in 17 such matches for Benfica, six coming in 10 Champions League games last season. Indeed, his last Anfield start in the competition saw him score twice against Liverpool in the quarter-final second leg in April - the only time has played 90 minutes at the stadium.
Whether to include Nunez from the off is one of several decisions with which Klopp is grappling as he looks to address Liverpool's spluttering form and build on Ajax triumph after opening Group A with the dismal 4-1 loss at Napoli a month ago.
Joe Gomez will challenge Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, Ibrahima Konate is close to a first start of the season at centre-back having returned to training following a knee injury, while midfielder Harvey Elliott and forwards Luis Diaz and Jota were all among the substitutes at the weekend.
Tonight's match pits in opposition the two losing finalists from last season's major European competitions, with Rangers having been beaten on penalties against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League showpiece in Seville.
The Scottish Premiership side, in the Champions League group stage for the first time in more than a decade, were heavily beaten in their opening two games with a 4-0 thumping at Ajax followed by a 3-0 home reverse to Napoli.
However, they scored an impressive 4-0 league win at Hearts at the weekend and Klopp is braced for a tough encounter in the first-ever competitive meeting between the teams, Rangers becoming Liverpool's 134th different European opponent.
"Good football team, well coached, exceptional European season last year obviously," says the Reds boss. "Qualifying for the Champions League a big, big, big, big achievement. I saw obviously the last game against Hearts. I saw more games but now especially the last one.
"Rangers’ run last year in the Europa League was exceptional. I saw the games against Dortmund, for example, it was just really good. Especially with a home game, you can see how atmosphere can give you really the edge in a game and that was really impressive.
"Really good football team and that’s what we have to prepare for. And a team who have had results they didn’t want, so that’s what they want to change definitely. So, we expect a proper fight, a real fight, to be honest, and that’s what we prepare for."
There will be one unwelcome reminder for Klopp and his players of May's Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid with the referee from that match, French official Clement Turpin, the man in the middle this evening.
Nunez, though, will hope he has the opportunity to repeat a more enjoyable memory - and help kickstart both his and Liverpool's season in the process.
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