Klopp shows concerns over Lovren injury ahead of Bayern Munich clash

Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool Manager, has expressed concerns as Liverpool prepare to clash with Bayern Munich in the elimination stage of the Champions League while the club suffers a problem at centre-back as Dejan Lovren has become a major doubt for the game because of injury.

Lovren hasn’t featured for Liverpool since suffering a hamstring injury during the early stages of their FA Cup third round defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 7.

While the majority of the Liverpool squad flew out to Marbella for a warm-weather training camp this week, Jürgen Klopp has confirmed that Lovren has remained behind to continue his rehabilitation at Melwood.

The Reds boss has also suggested that the 29-year-old is now facing a race against time to be available for selection against Bayern Munich for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on February 19.

Joe Gomez is also still back on Merseyside continuing his rehabilitation after being forced to undergo another operation on his fractured leg that’s kept him on the sidelines since early December.

Klopp said, “Dejan is not here and Joe [Gomez] is not here. That’s never a good sign, I would say, but we will try everything to make Dejan available for Munich. It will be a tight race.

“For him, it makes sense in the moment to be in another place to do what he has to do. It wouldn’t have helped if he was here, so we will try everything – that’s clear.”

With Virgil van Dijk suspended, it means Joel Matip would be the only recognised centre-back available to Klopp against Bayern next week if Lovren is ruled out of the game.

Fabinho is the man most likely to come in alongside Matip with the Brazilian international expected to recover from a minor muscle complaint which has kept him out of training today.