‘Welcome to England!’ – Jurgen Klopp reacts to Luis Diaz’s Liverpool debut and allays injury fears

Jurgen Klopp says Luis Diaz will have a scar to remember his Liverpool debut after the January signing came off the bench in an all-action cameo in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Cardiff City in the FA Cup fourth round.

The Merseysiders were perhaps fortunate to still have 11 men on the pitch after Caoimhin Kelleher escaped a red card at the start of the second half and moments later Diogo Jota headed the hosts into the lead.

Just before the hour-mark Klopp brought on both Diaz and Harvey Elliott, with the Colombian showing his quick feet to set up Takumi Minamino after just 10 minutes on the pitch before Elliott bagged his first Liverpool goal after a long injury lay-off with a lovely volley.

Cardiff did manage to net a late consolation goal, but Liverpool will now host fellow Premier League side Norwich City in the fifth round at the start of March.

There was a brief moment of concern against Cardiff when Diaz hit the deck in agony clutching his knee, with replays showing he had been accidentally stepped on, and Klopp joked afterwards that the £37million new recruit has been given an early taster of what to expect in England.

Speaking to ITV Sport after the match, Klopp said: ‘Luis came on and has now just a bruise and a little cut, everybody thought: “Welcome to England!” But there will be a scar at the end, so he knows what he did in the first game. But all good!’

In his post-match press conference, he added: ‘He’s good, thank god. It was a scary moment. The goal he set up for Taki was absolutely incredible. The high press, counter press, I love it! And then Taki finished it off.

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