Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has spoken highly about his former Liverpool player Luis Alberto.
Celtic will lock horns with Lazio in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, with Luis Alberto set to come up against his former boss – the player recently admitted that he thought he was a ‘phenomenon’ at Liverpool.
The 31-year-old donned Liverpool’s colours between 2013-16 when Brendan Rodgers was in charge.
As the ex-Liverpool boss alluded to, Luis Alberto was only young then, but now he feels that he is a ‘gifted footballer’, as he told his press conference.
During his time at Anfield, the Spanish star only played 12 times for the club, including several loan spells to La Liga, before he sealed a £6 million transfer to Lazio (Sky Sports).
The technically gifted midfielder hasn’t looked back since then because he has been a stalwart for the team, including helping them to a second-placed finish last season.
Brendan Rodgers on Luis Alberto
“Lazio play 4-3-3, the midfield is flexible,” said Rodgers.
“Luis Alberto, who I know really well, who is a really gifted player technically and he now has experience from what I knew of him as a 20-year-old at Liverpool.”
Celtic and Liverpool in Europe
Two very different scenarios facing both teams heading into the latter stages of the Champions League and Europa League matches.
Celtic only have one point to their name and they need to win their remaining two matches, including against Lazio tonight, just to have a chance of making the Europa League.
And if they enter that competition, then it’s a small matter of dealing with a team like Liverpool who are favourites to win the whole thing.
Liverpool’s European record under Jurgen Klopp is there for all to see, one thing is for sure, he reaches finals and it’s looking like it will happen again.
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