Thiago: Italy’s formidable start is not a surprise to me

Thiago Alcantara

, who was born in Lecce in 1991, is Mazinho’s son. His father played for the Giallorossi in Serie A.

The Liverpool midfielder is going to be in the starting XI when

lock horns with

this evening for the Euro 2020’s second group stage game.

The 30-year-old will encounter his former teammate

Robert Lewandowski

tonight.

“He is a friend of mine, we spent six years together at Bayern Munich. We often video chat, I ask him about Bayern, he asks me about [Jurgen] Klopp, who was his coach at Borussia Dortmund.

“And we talk about being fathers given that we both have sons.”

La Roja drew their first game of the group stage with Sweden and are in need of a victory to top Sweden who lead Group E.

When asked who he believes to win the Euros, Thiago said:

“Italy had a formidable start, but it was not a surprise to me. You can be partially surprised by two great results, but Mancini’s team are unbeaten in the last 29 games and won ten in a row without conceding and it’s nice to see how they play.

“France are a solid team, I like to watch the others and think about how to beat them. Other teams can be dominating: Portugal, or Germany for example.

“England have great potential and with players who are developing and then there’s us, with a precise idea that we’ve been developing for a long time, we only need to put the ball into the net.”

The Spain international made a move to the Reds from Bayern Munich in 2020 on a transfer fee of €22m.

He met the back of the net once in 30 games during his debut season at Anfield Road.

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