Fabinho seen laughing with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez after Champions League loss

Liverpool midfielder Fabinho was spotted sharing a laugh and a joke with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez after the Reds' 3-1 defeat at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Tuesday.

Fabinho played the full 90 minutes in the Champions League quarter-final first leg but was unable to prevent Liverpool falling to defeat at the hands of Real, who roared into an early lead through Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema and wrapped things up later on with another Vinicius strike.

It was a rough night for Liverpool, but Fabinho seemed in high spirits after the game as he met with Perez in the tunnel, which has seen him face criticism from a handful of supporters.

However, there was really nothing malicious in this one at all as Marca note the pair simply reminisced about Fabinho's time in the academy at Real.

The Brazil midfielder joined the club on loan in 2012, spending most of his one-year spell as the starting right-back for the Castilla, but he was handed his senior debut by Jose Mourinho in a 6-2 win over Malaga in 2013.

"With us you played as a right-back," Florentino recalled to Fabinho.

"Yes, but to play right-back now...what a player you have in Vinicius," Fabinho responded.

Real declined to make Fabinho's loan move permanent and he instead sealed another temporary switch to Monaco in 2013, where he blossomed into an elite defensive midfielder and earned himself a permanent switch in 2015.

After three more years at Monaco, Fabinho would go on to join Liverpool in a £39m deal, and after a rocky start to life in England, he has fulfilled the potential Perez seemingly saw in him when he brought him to Real all those years ago.

Fabinho will be hoping for a better performance from Liverpool when Real come to Anfield for the return leg on April 14, when they will have their work cut out for them to overturn a 3-1 deficit.

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