‘Underwhelming: Liverpool ace Thiago struggles during Thursday outing

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Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara was in World Cup qualifying action last night as Spain drew 1-1 with Greece.

The Spaniards were shocked by their opponents with Anastasios Bakasetas cancelling out Alvaro Morata’s opener.

Thiago was actually named among the substitutes last night but stepped off the bench in the 72nd minute.

The Liverpool midfield maestro has taken some time to get up to speed in the Premier League, with injury hampering his progress.

According to Who Scored, Thiago had 30 touches of the ball and finished the game with a passing accuracy of 80% – relatively low by his high standards.

Sportskeeda weren’t overly impressed with his cameo, giving him a 6/10 for his efforts.

They claimed: “It was not the most inspiring of performances from the Liverpool talisman, as Thiago Alcantara’s passing was underwhelming on the night.”

Meanwhile, AS also gave him a pretty ordinary 6/10 rating, claiming: “The Liverpool player came on in the 71st minute for Koke. He looked to add intensity as Spain went in search of the winning goal.”

TBR View: International duty not having the desired effect for Thiago

After a struggle during his first campaign in the Premier League, the Spaniard will have welcomed the chance to head off on Spain duty.

Seeing his name among the substitutes won’t have helped his mindset and his below-par performance isn’t ideal either.

The £20 million signing from Bayern Munich has played 15 matches in the Premier League, helping the team to just five victories during that time.

With a proper pre-season under his belt, the hope will be that he can start to show his undoubted quality at Anfield.

In the meantime, he must try and find his way back into Luis Enrique’s team on the international stage.