Thiago Alcantara is in danger of missing both of Liverpool's Champions League knockout fixtures against Real Madrid - with the midfielder reportedly set for a prolonged period on the sidelines.
The Spaniard was not pictured in full training with the rest of his team-mates on Thursday at the AXA Training Centre, with manager Jurgen Klopp later confirming the 31-year-old had suffered an injury to his hip flexor.
However, after the injury transpired to be worse than first feared, Thiago is in danger of missing the Reds' next seven fixtures across all competitions and faces a race against the clock to bit fit for Liverpool's visit to the Santiago Bernabeu on March 15.
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There is currently no timescale on how long Thiago could be sidelined for, with club sources telling the ECHO the issue needs to settle down before a full assessment can be made. Meanwhile, reports from The Telegraph earlier on Sunday suggested a timescale in the region of four weeks.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder, who has started all of the Reds' post-World Cup matches, had not been expected to face Everton in Monday's Merseyside derby at Anfield after sustaining the knock last week, but his extended absence now hands Klopp a considerable headache at a time when both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho both out of form.
Thiago joins Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz as the injured members of the Liverpool squad. Meanwhile, Diogo Jota, who has not featured since damaging his calf against Manchester City in October, is expected to make his long-awaited return to the squad on Monday evening.
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