Guardiola heaps praise on 'fearless' Thiago
Pep Guardiola heaped praise on Thiago Alcantara after the Bayern Munich midfielder completed his first 90 minutes since July.
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
The 22-year-old played the full game as Bayern extended their unbeaten Bundesliga run to 39 matches with a routine 2-0 home win over Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday.
Thiago joined the German and European champions from Barcelona in the close-season, but completed 90 minutes just once - in the 4-2 DFL-Supercup defeat to Borussia Dortmund - before sustaining a knee injury against Nuremberg on August 24.
He made his comeback after three months out as a substitute in the 3-0 league victory at Dortmund last week, before then playing an hour in Bayern’s 3-1 UEFA Champions League win over CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.
Guardiola then gave the Spain international a full match against Braunschweig, and the ex-Barca coach was pleased with his "courageous" compatriot's display.
"We have a lot of injured players and Thiago wasn't fit enough to play a full 90-minute game before," he said.
"He is a courageous player but still needs time to get back to full fitness.
"I'm happy about his performance, he is a player that doesn’t know the word fear. He is very brave - I am satisfied, to come back like this after a three-month absence.
"That shows very strong character and it's a great effort from him, I'm happy with his performance."
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
