Before playing against West Ham, Klopp's warning to one of his own players

On March 16, the worst omens for Stefan Bajcetic were confirmed. The Liverpool midfielder himself confirmed on his social networks that he was saying goodbye to the season due to an injury to his adductor. It was, without a doubt, a hard setback for Jurgen Klopp's team, since the Vigo player had emerged as the great revelation of the 'reds' and one of the few positive news in a season to be forgotten at Anfield. After six consecutive seasons playing in the Champions League, those from Merseyside had to settle for playing in the Europa League. Precisely, in the 'younger sister' of the top continental competition and six months later, the 18-year-old jewel reappeared yesterday and had her first minutes of the campaign with Liverpool.

Before, he did it during the international break with the Spanish U-21 in the comfortable victory of Santi Denia's team against a modest Malta. In Austria against LASK, Bajcetic was the big surprise of the night. The young 'red' talent enjoyed his first start of the season in the comeback that Darwin led and Luis Díaz completed for Liverpool to add their first European victory. Although more innovative was his position.

The Vigo player, versatile and capable of understanding Klopp's attractive football from any position, occupied the right back in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold. And he did it in a big way. In his hour of play on the Raiffeisen Arena, the '43' left a more than outstanding performance as a key player in the resurgence of the 'Pool'. The numbers don't lie. The former Celta de Vigo youth player obtained an 84% passing success rate (38 out of 45), won three of five duels on the green, delivered two key passes and successfully delivered up to seven of nine long balls. Almost nothing. In fact, Bajcetic's display did not go unnoticed by Klopp himself. The German coach added that one of the “many positive aspects of the match” was that “Stefan had minutes again” and sent the Vigo player a warning already known just by checking the Anfield team's last summer window.

<strong>You have to get used to high competition</strong>

“We have to get used to the competition.” A clear and direct message for the 18-year-old footballer who, despite being Klopp's right eye, will have fierce competition in the midfield with the arrivals of Mac Allister, Dominik Sobozlai and Ryan Gravenberch in the transfer market. Even with everything, Bajcetic has the advantage of Klopp's trust to earn a place in the starting eleven. His high performance last year made him one of the hottest boys in the Premier League. The man from Vigo played up to 21 games with the Reds' first team, in which he contributed with a goal and an assist in his 1,084 minutes on the green. Now, after his emergence last year, this season is expected to be his definitive consecration in a Liverpool team where he is already the darling of Anfield. “It's fantastic to play for this club again,” the young footballer posted on his social networks after the match against AEK in which, in addition to the three points, the big news was the return of Bajcetic.e club.