Liverpool coach Arne Slot complains about a lack of aggression in the Champions League win against Girona | Football News

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was anything but happy with his team’s performance in the 1-0 win in Girona, which extended the Champions League leaders’ perfect start to six games.

Mohamed Salah’s 63rd-minute penalty – his 50th goal in the competition – made the difference, but it was far from smooth sailing as the first half was particularly troubling for Slot.

“If you ask me after all six games, I’m really happy with all the results,” he said.

“I’m really happy with the five games and the way we played. I’m anything but satisfied with tonight’s performance.”

Asked what made him so unhappy, he added: “A lot. Two things in particular.”

“When you play against a team that has such a good idea of ​​football and knows how to get the ball out from the back, like some other teams we’ve played recently like (Manchester) City or Real Madrid, then you have to You can be so intense when.” You want to make it difficult for them.

“But if you wait a few seconds every time and then put pressure on it, it’s so easy to get outplayed because this team can give you problems and they showed that throughout the Champions League season, with the exception of the away game at PSV Eindhoven .” .

“I almost feel sorry for them because they deserve so much more this season than the three points they have now.”

“And every time we lost the ball we weren’t aggressive enough, almost every time they just went all the way to the goal.”

“We barely had control of the game, maybe the second half was better – I’m trying to think positively.”

The low intensity meant goalkeeper Alisson Becker had a busier evening than he would have expected after returning from a two-month layoff with a hamstring injury.

He made five saves in the first half, helping the club not concede a goal for almost nine hours, and Slot was indebted to the Brazil international.

“We have an incredible goalkeeper. I jokingly said maybe the players wanted to see how fit he was to give him so much work,” he added.

“He showed that he is probably one of the best – in my opinion the best goalkeeper – in the world.”

“Let’s hope he can continue to deliver these performances and let’s hope even more that he stays fit.”

Why Alisson’s return is important

Ben Grounds from Sky Sports:

This result gives Slot the luxury of rotation in Liverpool’s final two league stage games. Don’t underestimate the benefit of this as they try to fight on all fronts.

Former Southampton and Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu admitted Girona had to be at their best to upset Liverpool – and the hosts created several opportunities for a shock win.

Brazil international Alisson helped the Reds to their fifth consecutive clean sheet in the competition, something they last achieved in 2005. The 32-year-old has been sidelined since October with a thigh injury, causing him to miss eleven games.

In his absence, Caoimhin Kelleher kept five clean sheets, including against Real Madrid and Manchester City, but made his first real mistake in Newcastle last Wednesday when his late misjudgment allowed the hosts a 3-3 draw.

But Alisson has this special quality. He showed that he frustrated Arnaut Danjuma on more than one occasion, on a night when the people in front of him were not at their best.

Girona’s final result let them down, but when there were those moments of quality, it was Alisson who steadfastly ensured there were no hiccups in Catalonia.

“Alisson definitely didn’t look like he had been out for two months,” Slot said. “I joked with the players that maybe they wanted to see how ready he was because they made him make so many saves. But he showed why I always say he’s our number one.”

Darwin Nunez, who has scored just one goal in his last 10 appearances, was twice denied by Paulo Gazzaniga, but the Uruguayan international produced another of those now all too common with his deflected header from Dominik Szoboszlai’s hanging cross that found the assisting Curtis Jones frustrating performances and Salah failed to make a profit.

But the hosts were undeterred and would have been ahead if Alisson and Daley Blind hadn’t shown the necessary composure in front of goal.

The former Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich defender’s last goal was 11 months ago and that was evident when he directed Miguel Gutierrez’s cross into the six-yard box.

Alisson parried Alejandro Frances’ follow-up attempt, parried a shot from Miguel Gutierrez and dove to his right to keep out Yaser Asprilla’s long-range shot. Liverpool recovered after the restart and won.