I saw what Federico Chiesa did in Liverpool open training and it spoke volumes

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Federico Chiesa could make his first Champions League appearance of the season for Liverpool against Galatasaray after being added to their squad following Giovanni Leoni's ACL injuryTheo Squires was appointed Liverpool FC Writer for the Liverpool ECHO in 2021, after covering EURO 2020 at Wembley as England reached their first major men's final since 1966. Federico Chiesa could have been forgiven for feeling mixed emotions the last time the Liverpool squad were put through their paces in an open training session at the AXA Training Centre.Coming before the Reds’ Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid, the Italian joined his team-mates for the session but already knew he would not be involved against the La Liga outfit.Arne Slot made headlines when he made the bold decision to leave the forward out of his initial European squad, instead opting to select both Rio Ngumoha and Giovanni Leoni with the young pair tasked with providing depth in attack and at centre-back.READ MORE: Arne Slot faces major Hugo Ekitike decision as Liverpool consider defensive overhaulREAD MORE: Federico Chiesa trains alongside Hugo Ekitike after Liverpool recall as injured striker missingIneligible against Atletico, he was then left out of the matchday squad for Liverpool’s Merseyside derby victory over Everton with club-record signing Alexander Isak inevitably ahead of him in the attacking order.

But since then, the forward has been handed a reprieve after Leoni suffered an ACL injury during an encouraging debut against Southampton in the League Cup last week.His lengthy absence enabled the Reds to take advantage of new UEFA registration rules and register Chiesa - who had recorded two assists in a man-of-the-match performance against the Saints - in their ranks in place of his fellow Italian for the remainder of the league phase.The forward then followed that up with a late equaliser off the bench against Crystal Palace on Saturday, only to see Liverpool denied a share of the spoils by Eddie Nketiah’s 97th minute winner.But after spending his first season at Anfield predominantly on the sidelines, left playing catch-up after being denied a proper pre-season with former club Juventus, it is evident that Chiesa is hungry to make up for lost time and take advantage of his second opportunity with Liverpool.This was perhaps demonstrated best by one particularly enthusiastic moment in open training from the 27-year-old, who now boasts two goals and two assists from six outings this season.Paired up with Dominik Szoboszlai for an exercise which involved one player attempting to sprint off with a rubber band around their waist held by a resistant team-mate behind them, Chiesa attempted to get underway before any of his colleagues had even got their own bands over their heads.In an amusing juxtaposition, fellow forward Hugo Ekitike was seen playfully whipping Alexis Mac Allister with his own rubber band as Chiesa first started sprinting, held back by Szoboszlai, behind him.You wonder how many of the Frenchman’s team-mates and coaches would have liked to have been the ones doing the whipping following Ekitike’s red card after removing his shirt in last week’s 2-1 victory over Southampton!The forward is likely to return to the Liverpool starting XI against Galatasaray, after Alexander Isak completed 84 minutes in his fellow forward’s enforced absence for the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.But Chiesa will be desperate to make an impression too, if given the nod by Slot. “[After the injury to Leoni] we would have brought him in the Champions League squad, but if he didn't do as well as he did [against Southampton] we would probably not look at him as if he gets more playing time."But he did so well that it normally leads to a bit more playing time if you can keep producing in training sessions and in the moments we bring him in.“Again an example of a player that hardly played last season and the amount of players that from [a high] level all the way [down] because they don't have a perspective on playing time or development, but he showed the mentality to go up."Now he's getting more minutes and where that leads to depends also on how others are doing.”Chiesa’s place in the Liverpool pecking order is clear despite his encouraging start to the season, with Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Isak and Ekitike clearly ahead of him in the pecking order.

But you can’t fault his determination to make an impact at Anfield.“It was really difficult but I don’t think I was at the level the coach wanted me to play,” he admitted following his man-of-the-match performance against Southampton. But I want the competition, I want to play here and I think, at the end of the day, competition helps you to become a better player.“I am a professional player, I play for Liverpool and to do that is amazing.”In the same interview, Chiesa was also quizzed about being left out of the Reds’ Champions League squad.