Fabinho, from making Real Madrid debut to eliminating Barca in the UCL

As a right-back, the reality is that Fabinho didn't have the qualities that Dani Carvajal did, however the Brazilian has come a long way from making his Real Madrid debut, playing an influential role in eliminating Barcelona from the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

A move to Monaco followed his short-lived Los Blancos career under Jose Mourinho, and the Brazilian international thrived when Leonardo Jardim moved him into midfield.

His vision on the ball quickly became apparent, and he had a stunning level of intelligence that few could have seen from his cameo appearances at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Mourinho handed Fabinho a debut with Los Merengues as a sub-chapter in his ongoing dispute with Pepe after the Portuguese central defender backed Iker Casillas in the war that had engulfed the dressing room.

As the former Manchester United coach has done so often in his career, Fabinho appeared to be nothing more than a pawn in a wider game, on that night few could have envisaged the Brazilian bringing so much joy to the Spanish capital years later.

His time in France was the making of him, he developed physically and was handed the chance to illustrate the technical side of his game.

After playing a key part in Monaco's run to the Champions League semi-final and Ligue 1 title in 2017, it was thought he may finally get his big-money transfer when Paris Saint-Germain came calling.

For whatever reason, that move fell through, and he was left at the Stade Louis II after Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy and Tiemoue Bakayoko had all departed.

Yet, he still stood out and helped Monaco to a respectable finish against the riches of the Parisian club, even if many felt he had missed a chance to move.

Atletico Madrid appeared to be the only club interested in him when the summer transfer window of 2018 arrived, especially after he missed out on Tite's World Cup squad heading to Russia.

Manchester United had been linked constantly, but their scattergun transfer policy under Ed Woodward meant that the club were never really in the hunt, and so Liverpool arrived to take the former Los Blancos academy graduate to Anfield.

A slow start to his career on Merseyside beckoned, but since Christmas Fabinho has been a mainstay in Jurgen Klopp's team, and his performance against Los Cules showed just why.

He was physically dominant, first to every loose ball and he won every header, even despite being on the receiving end of Sergio Busquets' elbow on at least one occasion.

Not only was it brawn that was on display at Anfield on Tuesday, but brains too, against a team that are as possession centric as the Blaugrana, Fabinho killed them with a 90 percent pass success rate.

Barcelona couldn't hurt the Reds without the ball, and Fabinho kept it away from the visitors for large portions of the 90 minutes.

When Cuneyt Cakir finally blew his whistle to confirm Liverpool's place in Madrid, the former Real defender dropped to his knees, in both delight and exhaustion, he had carried the Reds into the showpiece final, once again showing the value of Liverpool's transfer policy, and Mourinho's eye for talent.