Trent Alexander-Arnold closer to Liverpool return with announcement imminent
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The former Liverpool defender reached the Champions League last-16 with Real Madrid on Wednesday eveningLiverpool's route to the latter stages of the Champions League and a potential reunion with former Anfield hero Trent Alexander-Arnold is taking shape. Alexander-Arnold's Real Madrid earned their passage into the Champions League last-16 after beating Jose Mourinho's Benfica 3-1 on aggregate on Wednesday evening, with Alexander-Arnold playing the full 90 minutes.Should Liverpool draw the Turkish giants then the Reds could be set on a collision course with Madrid, with a potential meeting between the two in the semi-finals.READ MORE: Spanish media give scathing review of Trent Alexander-Arnold as star faces brutal realityREAD MORE: Victor Osimhen tells Jamie Carragher why he wants to 'escape' Liverpool in Champions League drawEnsure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source.
Whoever Liverpool face, Alexander-Arnold could be set to play against his former club once again this season, as long as both sides at the very least battle it out to the semi-finals.Liverpool and Madrid have already met in this years Champions League with the Reds recording a 1-0 win at Anfield during the league phase. Alexander-Arnold perhaps didn't foresee that he would return to his boyhood club so quickly after joining Madrid in the summer.With the 27-year-old's departure from Anfield a contentious one to say the least, the reception for the right-back at Anfield back in November was perhaps all too predictable.The full-back began the night on the bench for Madrid.
Fans then made a point of singing about club legend Steven Gerrard and Alexander-Arnold's replacement at right-back, Conor Bradley, in a dig to their former favourite.Upon leaving Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold revealed that he was empathetic to those supporters who failed to see his reasoning for leaving his boyhood side."I completely understand the feelings that go with that [leaving Liverpool] and I’ve felt it myself so I completely understand that the news will disappoint a lot of people, will anger people, it will make them upset," he said after making his decision to join Madrid."Obviously that went into the decision as well – it’s something you don’t want to do, you don’t want to ever have these moments where you feel like you’re letting a lot of people down, you’re disappointing a lot of people. All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageThe 15-time Champions League winners and six-time champions have faced off in two European Cup finals since 2018, with Madrid winning both.It's more than likely that Liverpool will want to avoid Madrid at any stage in this year's knock-out rounds due to their recent history.