MY ACCOUNT
Thiago Alcantara is “excited” at the prospect of playing in the FA Cup final against Chelsea, having narrowly missed out on appearing in Liverpool’s previous showpiece game this season.
The Spain international was named in the starting line-up for the Carabao Cup final in February, also against Chelsea but had to pull out after injuring his hamstring in the warm-up.
Thiago could be seen in tears on the substitutes’ bench, though was in a better mood later on as he watched his team-mates triumph 11-10 on penalties at Wembley.
Speaking to Liverpool’s official website ahead of Saturday’s clash, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich playmaker explained why he got so emotional that day, and what it meant to the players to lift a trophy after a difficult previous season.
He said: “We fought a lot to arrive in that moment, that you can play in a final, and then suddenly because I had a bad thing, a bad neck problem and it caused just like a chain of movement that in the end caused me an injury in the hamstring.
“It’s a moment where you are just frustrated. You just calm down a bit, you try to be cold enough to face the final. It was as it was.
“We won it and, for sure, it’s bittersweet that you don’t play that game, but you’re happy for the team.
“Lifting a trophy is a special moment but it was more for the frustrating situation that everybody had the last few years. It was because of what we have been through and was a kind of celebration of overcoming that situation.”
Liverpool have not won the FA Cup since 2006 and this will be their first final since 2012, when they lost 2-1 to Chelsea.
Thiago is excited for the occasion, which will be the 150th FA Cup final, and though he played in the semi-final victory against Manchester City at Wembley, the 31-year-old is looking forward to now being able to play in a final at the world-famous stadium.
He added: “We came from other countries – not just me but other players – and just met this amazing competition, the oldest in the world.
“We are really excited to play – not just the competition itself but a final. We’re ready for it.
“It doesn’t matter if we didn’t win [it] before or for a long time. It’s just about a trophy that we can win and we add in our backpack this new challenge. We’re looking forward to it.
“Wembley is an amazing stadium. It’s special itself but then you know that Wembley is used for special moments. There’s different context and we’re ready to go to London.”
