Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has ruled Stefan Bajcetic out of Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid.
The 18-year-old - who played 85 minutes of the Reds' 5-2 first-leg loss at Anfield three weeks ago - was a notable absentee from training on Tuesday morning alongside Jordan Henderson.
Henderson did not make the trip to the Spanish capital due to illness, but Bajcetic was pictured in good spirits as he boarded the plane with his teammates following training.
Bajcetic's inclusion sparked hope that he would be able to play at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Klopp has now revealed that the Spain Under-18 international will not turn out for the second leg.
Speaking to the media in his pre-game press conference, Klopp said that Bajcetic was dealing with an adductor problem, and he could not put a timeframe on the midfielder's recovery.
"He is not available to play. He has a stress response, an adductor injury. He is out for, I don't know, we'll let it settle," Klopp told reporters as he works around a midfield crisis for Wednesday's encounter.
As well as Henderson and Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara remains absent with a hip injury, while Arthur was not included in Liverpool's Champions League squad for the knockout stages.
The likes of Harvey Elliott, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones will compete to join Fabinho in midfield, while Naby Keita could also come into contention if he shakes off a knock.
Calvin Ramsay and Luis Diaz are also absent with their knee injuries, but Joe Gomez trained on Tuesday after recovering from a muscular problem sustained in the Reds' first-leg mauling.
Klopp admitted after the 5-2 defeat last month that Real Madrid were most likely through, but he is refusing to throw in the towel while there is a "1%" chance of Liverpool producing a Bernabeu miracle.
"If there is a 1% chance, I would like to give it a try. It is possible and we will see where it leads us. We respect the competition and the opponent too much to not be ready for tomorrow. I look forward to it," Klopp added.
"Tactically, we have to be super active, with and without the ball. Our midfield press must be outstanding. We have to take risks but avoid counters.
"With the risk we have to take offensively, we have to make sure we try to avoid counter-attacks. There wasn't a massive thing wrong with our first leg plan we just didn't defend the counter-attack.
"We probably won't go through but 100% of the people here think we have no chance. If I am the only one who thinks we have a little, that's fine. We are a complete outsider, that's fine. It's football."
Liverpool are one of four teams to have previously overturned a three-goal deficit in a Champions League knockout tie, beating Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate in the 2018-19 semi-finals following a 3-0 first-leg loss at Camp Nou. body check tags ::
