Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has named former Reds star Xabi Alonso as the toughest opponent he has faced in his career to date.
Keita went head to head with Alonso twice in the Bundesliga. Spaniard Alonso was pulling the strings for Bayern Munich while a young Ivorian Keita was representing RB Leipzig.
LiverpoolFC.com hosted a Q&A with Keita and the 23-year-old was asked who the hardest player he had come up against was. He replied: 'When I used to play against Bayern, Xabi Alonso always used to give me a really hard time.
'He was so experienced... he made me suffer. The way he'd keep switching play just meant that you could never stop running. He was very intelligent.'
Alonso, who retired from playing in 2017, spoke highly of Keita last summer.
After Keita's move to Liverpool was agreed, Alonso called him a 'big personality' and an 'all-round midfielder’.
Keita has enjoyed a strong start to his Premier League career, helping Liverpool win their first four games this season.
Alonso made 210 first-team appearances for Liverpool between 2004 and 2009, winning one Champions League, one FA Cup, a UEFA Super Cup and an FA Community Shield.
