Thiago Alcântara

His season ended due to a knee ligament tear against 1899 Hoffenheim six days later, although Bayern went on to win the league and cup.

He finished the season with two goals in 16 Bundesliga matches, two German Cup matches, four Champions League matches, a goal in two FIFA Club World Cup, and an appearance in the German Super Cup.

Thiago was born in San Pietro Vernotico, Italy, when his father Mazinho (player for the Brazil national team from 1989 to 1994) was playing for nearby U.S. Lecce.

He started at the lower levels of Flamengo in Brazil, and, at the age of five, moved to Spain with his father, and started playing with Galician team Ureca in Nigrán.

Thiago Alcântara do Nascimento (Alcántara; born 11 April 1991), known as Thiago Alcântara or simply Thiago, is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool.

Born in Italy to Brazilian parents, he is the eldest child of former player Mazinho.

In 2001, he played with Kelme CF when his father played for Elche CF.

He returned to Flamengo aged 10 and, in 2005, once again moved back to Spain, signing with FC Barcelona.

Thiago joined Barcelona aged 14, and made his first team debut in 2009.

On 17 May 2009, aged 18, Thiago made his debut for the first team when he came on as a substitute for Eiður Guðjohnsen in the 74th minute at RCD Mallorca for his only appearance of the season.

Barcelona, having already been declared champions of La Liga for the season, lost 1–2.

On 20 February 2010, after coming on as a substitute for Yaya Touré in the 76th minute, Thiago scored his first goal for Barcelona in a 4–0 home win against Racing de Santander.

He scored his third goal against Real Sociedad in a start on 29 April, although Barcelona lost 2–1.

He ended the 2010–11 season with 17 games, three goals, and three assists, and was an unused substitute as Barcelona won the 2011 UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

After helping Spain to European Championships at under-19 and under-21 levels, he made his full international debut in 2011.

Thiago started the 2011–12 season with the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa match against rivals Real Madrid, being substituted for Xavi after 58 minutes, and was an unused substitute as they defeated FC Porto for the 2011 UEFA Super Cup.

He then scored in Barcelona's first La Liga match of the season in a 5–0 home win against Villarreal CF.

On 18 December, he started as Barcelona won 4–0 in the Club World Cup final at International Stadium Yokohama.

Thiago also netted Barcelona's fifth in a 7–0 win against Rayo Vallecano on 29 April from a close-range header.

He followed this with a dance with Dani Alves then stopped by Carles Puyol.

The transfer came despite a new contract that Barcelona had given Thiago in 2011 which set his release clause at €90 million.

Barcelona failed to fulfil clauses in the contract relating to the amount of playing time that Thiago received, and as a result his buy-out clause dropped to €18m.

Guardiola had made Thiago a priority signing.

After winning honours including four La Liga titles, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup for Barcelona, he was signed by Bayern Munich for €25 million in 2013.

In Germany, Thiago won 16 trophies, including the Bundesliga seven times in a row, and the UEFA Champions League as part of a continental treble in his final year at the club.

On 14 July 2013, Thiago signed a four-year deal with Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, for a €25 million fee.

Bayern would pay €20 million to Barcelona directly with the remainder being covered by the proceeds of a friendly to be played between the two teams at some point in the following four years and by Thiago foregoing some money owed to him by Barcelona.

Thiago made his Bayern debut in a 4–2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 DFL-Supercup on 27 July.

He made his debut in the Bundesliga in a 0–1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 11 August 2013.

On 21 December 2013, he scored his first competitive goal for Bayern Munich, in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup final against Raja Casablanca of Morocco, sealing the 2–0 win for the German club.

Thiago was part of the provisional squad for Spain in the 2014 World Cup but withdrew due to a knee injury.

On 29 January 2014, he scored his first Bundesliga goal, the scissor-kicked winner in stoppage time against VfB Stuttgart which was voted the Goal of the Month.

He also had an assist to Claudio Pizarro for Bayern's first goal in the 2–1 win.

Four days later, in a match against Eintracht Frankfurt, he set a Bundesliga record with 185 touches of the ball.

On 23 February, in a 4–0 win over Hannover 96, Thiago scored his second and last goal of the Bundesliga season.

After over a year out injured, Thiago returned on 4 April 2015, replacing Philipp Lahm for the last 21 minutes of a 1–0 win at Borussia Dortmund.

He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2020.

In 2020, he signed for Liverpool in a transfer worth an initial £20 million.

With Liverpool, he won the FA Cup in 2022.

Thiago has twice been selected in the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11, once for Bayern Munich and once for Liverpool.