Thiago ready for battle with Sergio Ramos in Champions League clash: “He will be my rival” | OneFootball

Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara has thrown down the gauntlet and said he’d ready to take on Sergio Ramos and Real Madrid in the Champions League next month.

The midfielder is currently on international duty with Spain – alongside the captain – but has been speaking about the club-level clash in a few weeks.

As quoted by AS (via Sport Witness), Thiago says Ramos “will be my rival” when Liverpool take on Real Madrid.

“It’s great to play with Sergio. The years go by and you keep learning from him, he keeps evolving, he still wants to compete, his main feature is this ambition,” he said.

“This struggle and he passes it on to us in the national team and we can learn from a guy who with so much success and with so much recognition in football still wants more.

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“I love having Sergio in the national team as a partner and when we are rivals, then he will be my rival.

“We have received the match with all the respect in the world, with respect for a knockout of a Champions League quarterfinal, wanting to be able to play the matches.

“It is a wonderful competition, against a fantastic team. We face Real Madrid with the respect we owe.”

Liverpool are slated to travel to the Spanish capital on April 6 to face Los Blancos in the European heavyweight fixture, which will be a repeat of the 2018 Champions League final.

Ramos didn’t do himself any favours among the Reds supporters when he seemingly injured Mohamed Salah on purpose in the opening stages of the showdown in Kiev.