Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain was forced off early on and is a major doubt for the 2018 FIFA World Cup now.
Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan (L) and Jordan Henderson (R) (Photo: AFP)
Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League semi-final with Roma on Tuesday night got off to a less than ideal start as Reds midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared to injure his knee while making a sliding tackle on Giallorossi wingback Aleksandar Kolarov early on.
17: Klopp is forced into an early change. @Alex_OxChambo injured. @GWijnaldum the replacement.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 24, 2018
Kolarov was bombing down the wing as Oxlade-Chamberlain stopped him in his tracks with a perfect sliding tackle but the English midfielder caught his own knee in the follow through.
As Oxlade-Chamberlain stayed down while clutching his leg, match referee Felix Brych allowed the medics to come and treat the stricken player.
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After a brief period of treatment, the Liverpool midfielder started to get to his feet but the Physio signalled to the bench to make an immediate substitutions, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
Jurgen Klopp had sent Georginio Wijnaldum to warm up in the meantime and hurriedly called for the Dutchman to come on to the pitch and eventually the change was made in the 18th minute with the tie still scoreless.
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England manager Gareth Southgate was in the stands at Anfield and cut a concerned figure as his compatriot was stretchered off and while the club will not be able to reveal the extent of his injury till the end of the week, his hopes of featuring in the 2018 FIFA World Cup are slim.
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