World-class Fabinho marks 150 appearances for Liverpool in Champions League win in Milan

When Liverpool announced the signing of Fabinho in 2018 - just 48 hours after Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid - Jurgen Klopp urged patience as the midfielder adapts to a new team, a new league, a new country.

The Brazilian played in pivotal role in the Monaco side that won Ligue 1 and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2016/2017, before finishing second the following year as the team began to break up.

It took until October 20 and a substitute appearance against Huddersfield Town for Fabinho to be introduced to the Premier League, and another week for his first start.

And on Wednesday evening , nearly three-and-a-half years later, Fabinho stepped out into the San Siro for his 150th Liverpool appearance as his side won 2-0 in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Inter Milan.

He did so with five goals in his last seven games - which eclipsed his four previous goals in over 10,000 minutes of football - and the growing influence of a world-class midfielder.

His development throughout those 150 appearances has been incredible.

Undroppable

It didn’t take long for Fabinho to make himself virtually undroppable, starting seven of the eight Premier League games that followed Huddersfield and missing just two league games during the remainder of the season.

He offered a level of control that had previously been missing, a level of control that was needed to maintain a title challenge over the course of a full campaign.

The season previous had seen Klopp’s side draw 3-3 with Watford, lose 5-0 to Manchester City and 4-1 to Spurs, conceding a goal per game on average.

And in Fabinho’s first season at Anfield that average dropped to just 0.58 - almost half the previous number and comfortably the lowest in the league.

The Brazilian offered a sense of composure in the midst of the chaos that was Klopp’s heavy-metal football, almost like someone meditating inside a tumble-dryer.

As everyone around him shuttled and buzzed, Fabinho offered clarity - it’s why Reds assistant coach Pep Lijnders tended to liken him to a lighthouse.

“Inside the ‘organised chaos’ that we want, that we like, he is like a lighthouse,” Lijnders explained in 2019. “He controls it and, for me, you can still have the style of the gaffer and how we want to identify ourselves.”

The Brazilian’s immense ability to anticipate danger has allowed his teammates to bomb forward in the confidence of world-class midfield cover, and his defensive quality has made for a red brick wall in-front of defence.

It’s no coincidence that Fabinho played the full 90 minutes of Liverpool’s Champions League final win in 2019, plus crucial Premier League fixtures against Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City in the title winning season.

Adapting to centre-back

Liverpool’s title defence was marred by long-term injuries to key centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

What the dire situation did do, however, was highlight Fabinho’s adaptability as the he became the senior centre-back at Anfield.

The Brazilian’s intelligence made it a fairly seamless switch to defence and his physicality was more than a match for some of the Premier League’s best and most physical strikers.

In a nine-game spell following van Dijk’s injury at Everton, the Reds went unbeaten with Fabinho at centre-back, keeping four clean sheets and conceding just five goals.

It was testament to Fabinho’s importance that the worst thing about having him at centre-back was that he was missing from the midfield.

And that move back up to midfield in March paved the way for a 10-game unbeaten run and a late climb into third place from a seemingly impossible deficit.

A world-class talent

This season has seen Fabinho cement his place in the ‘world-class’ bracket of defensive midfielders.

His reading of the game seems only to improve each week and it is the knowledge that Fabinho is covering that gives the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Thiago the freedom to take risks.

The midfielder’s clarity in possession calms a Liverpool side previously entrenched in the heavy-metal philosophy - often to the point of detriment.

And his five goals this year emphasise a growing influence in not just controlling games, but deciding them.

Earlier in the week, Alexander-Arnold spoke of Liverpool’s trophy ambitions and stated that they should be aiming to win at least one trophy a season if not more.

Any success they have this campaign is likely to rely heavily on the influence of Fabinho.

Here’s to 150 more.