Roberto Firmino‘s next appearance for Liverpool, likely to come on Tuesday at Atletico Madrid, will be his 300th for the club – a rare distinction for an overseas player.
The Reds travel to Madrid this week for their third game in this season’s Champions League, aiming to win all of their first three group games for only the second time in the competition’s history.
Having already seen off AC Milan (3-2) and Porto (5-1), Liverpool’s trip to Atletico will arguably be their toughest test so far.
But after returning from the international break with a 5-0 thrashing of Watford, Jurgen Klopp‘s side should be high in confidence as they revert back to the European stage.
Firmino made his 250th start for the club at Vicarage Road on Saturday, marking it with a well-taken hat-trick of tap-ins, taking his tally since joining from Hoffenheim to 93.
It was a twin milestone for the striker, as he broke the 50-goal mark on the road for Liverpool, becoming only the 12th Reds player to net a half-century of away goals.
He is only the third to do so with the majority of his overall goals coming away from Anfield, at 55 percent, after Michael Owen (51%) and John Barnes (57%).
Impressively, Firmino is also only the third overseas player to net 50 or more away goals for Liverpool, with Mohamed Salah (61) and Gordon Hodgson (82) the other two.
The 30-year-old’s next outing for the club will bring another milestone, as his 300th appearance for the Reds in all competitions.
He will become the 60th player to do so in Liverpool’s 129-year history, and only the ninth non-Brit.
Overseas players with 300+ games for Liverpool
- Bruce Grobbelaar – 628
- Sami Hyypia – 464
- Pepe Reina – 394
- Gordon Hodgson – 377
- John Arne Riise – 348
- Lucas Leiva – 346
- Arthur Riley – 338
- Martin Skrtel – 320
- Roberto Firmino – 299
* John Barnes considered English, though Jamaica-born.
It will be a major distinction for one of the club’s best foreign players of all time, with 292 of his outings so far coming under Klopp.
Last season saw Firmino pass Neven Subotic (281) as Klopp’s most-used player throughout his career as a manager so far, with only Robert Lewandowski (102), Sadio Mane (103) and Salah (135) netting more goals for the German than his 93.
No player has assisted more goals for any of Klopp’s sides than Firmino (70), whose combined contribution of goals and assists (163) is second only to Salah (189).
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