Here’s your Liverpool morning digest as Darwin Nunez withdraws from Uruguay’s squad and Lucas Leiva retires
There will be no Liverpool match this weekend, but your Liverpool morning digest will be ready on Saturday, March 18.
Liverpool dealt an injury blow to Darwin Nunez when Uruguay’s decision was revealed.
Darwin Nunez has been ruled out of Uruguay’s upcoming friendly due to injury, according to reports.
The Liverpool attacker played in the Reds’ Champions League defeat to Real Madrid earlier this week, but was replaced in the second half, much to the chagrin of many fans.
Pressed to clarify after the match whether this substitution was injury-related, Jurgen Klopp responded: “Darwin looked like he was not at the very top level as well and we needed to defend that side as well. We had the option to change, and we wanted to shake things up a little.”
The Uruguay Football Federation has now declared Nunez is unavailable for their upcoming friendlies against Japan and South Korea having evidently suffered a setback.
Lucas Leiva, a former Liverpool midfielder, has announced his retirement from football at the age of 36.
The Brazilian was set to return to his first professional club Gremio in June 2022, but he was forced to retire due to a heart condition revealed during pre-season exams.
Lucas joined Liverpool in the summer of 2007 and quickly became a fan favorite, revered by many for his unwavering work ethic and professionalism at all times. After making 346 appearances for the Reds across a decade, he left at the end of the 2016/17 season to join Serie A side Lazio.
Lucas, who was named Player of the Season in each of his first two seasons in Italy, made an immediate impact and helped the team win the Coppa Italia in 2019. Last June, he returned to Brazil and signed for Gremio, where he played 17 times in the second division and helped the club return to the top flight of Brazilian football.
Lucas, who was removed from first-team training in December after a change in cardiac rhythm was noticed by the medical staff, stated on Friday that he will not be returning to the pitch ahead of the new league season, which begins next month.
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