Report: TV broadcasters were desperate for Xabi Alonso to bump into former Liverpool teammate on Tuesday
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Liverpool enjoyed themselves on Tuesday night as they swept aside Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
The Reds came into the game in brilliant form having won each of their three matches in the competition so far.
But after winning an unbeaten Bundesliga campaign last season, Leverkusen arguably posed Liverpool’s toughest test yet.
Of course, as well as seeing whether the Reds could maintain their 100 per cent record in the Champions League, there was another sideshow at Anfield, too.
For the first time in 15 years, Xabi Alonso was back on Merseyside for a competitive fixture.
And with Alonso’s return clearly being the big news story of the day, TV broadcaster Amazon Prime wanted to make sure they milked it for all it was worth.
Amazon set up Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia meeting
It was really nice to see Alonso back at Anfield. The 42-year-old will always be a popular figure amongst Liverpool fans.
So too will Luis Garcia, the man his signing was announced alongside back in 2004.
20 years on, and the pair were reunited on the Anfield turf on Tuesday, with Garcia acting as a pundit for Amazon Prime.
Obviously, the Spaniard was chosen to cover the game with Alonso’s visit in mind. But according to The Athletic, the broadcaster played a little trick to ensure maximum impact when the pair met again for the first time.
READ MORE: Steven Gerrard reacts as Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia reunite ahead of Liverpool vs Leverkusen
They report that producers made a ‘strategic decision’ to place Garcia by an area inside the Anfield tunnel as Alonso and Leverkusen were getting off their bus.
Amazon reportedly hoped Alonso would therefore spot his old teammate, thus allowing them to broadcast a ‘potential exchange’ between the pair upon Leverkusen’s arrival at the stadium.
In the end, this little trick actually worked. Alonso spotted and greeted Garcia exactly as those who planned it had hoped.
20 years of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia
Although they weren’t the first signings of the Rafa Benitez era at Liverpool, Alonso and Garcia initially felt like the most important.
Two arrivals from Benitez’s native Spain, the pair helped to truly usher in a new beginning.
After they were unveiled together on the Anfield pitch, Alonso and Garcia went about playing their part in what was a magical couple of years together.
Xabi is certainly the more celebrated of the two and was the better player. But Garcia played an enormous part in Liverpool’s Champions League win in 2005 and will always be remembered as a real cult hero.
We’re glad Amazon made the decision to film a greeting between the pair, because it really added another big slice of nostalgia to what was already a somewhat emotional evening.
