"He made my life difficult," admits Matip about Nunez, now teammates in Liverpool

The Uruguayan foward left his mark in the Champions League duels defending the Benfica shirt and everyone remembers him.

15/07/2022, 02:40 AM +00:00

Darwin Núñez made his debut last Tuesday with the Liverpool shirt in a duel where the Reds fell 4-0 to Manchester United, but where the man from Artiguense had an interesting half hour after what he was able to show.

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Beyond not being able to take advantage of his clearest opportunity, the Uruguayan attacker made it clear what he can give and that can not only intimidate rivals, but also leave his teammates alone.

"I am very happy that he is wearing our shirt, because he made my life difficult in the Champions League," confessed Joel Matip, defender of Jürgen Klopp's team. The German-born but representing Cameroon added: “He has a lot of quality and I really want to see him score goals for us.”

When did Matip and Nunez meet?

In the last edition of the UEFA Champions League where the player from Artiguense scored two goals in the two games in which he faced Liverpool with the Benfica shirt, to the point that Klopp did not hesitate to hire him. Matip faced him in the second leg where, at Anfield, he scored the final 3-3.

“I think he is a footballer different from the rest physically and in speed. He will score goals, I am absolutely sure and he will give us extra power in the attack so that the squad can really go for everything this season”, he sentenced.

Let's remember that he is not the first Liverpool defender to admit that Núñez is difficult to score. Virgil Van Dijk considered him one of the most powerful strikers he had scored on a list that also included Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Agüero and Erling Haaland.

In the case of Van Dijk, he had to score in the first leg in Portugal, because in the second leg, the defense was made up of Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konaté, who did not have it easy either and led Klopp to assure at a press conference: "He proved to be physically very good."