Arne Slot gives the thumbs up to the Liverpool fans
Arne Slot says Liverpool are ahead of schedule
Arne Slot declared it was “special” to beat the European champions Real Madrid because they have been “a pain in the arse” for Liverpool in the past.
In what was another memorable Champions League night at Anfield, Liverpool’s 2-0 win means they now sit on top of the new 36-team group stage with a perfect record of played five, won five, with Madrid’s Jude Bellingham admitting they “were more up for it than us”.
That was certainly the case, with Slot alluding to Liverpool’s desire for a modicum of revenge having lost recent Champions League finals – in 2018 and 2022 – to Madrid.
“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times (15),” the Liverpool head coach said. “They were a pain in the arse for Liverpool for many years too. It is a big week and it is pleasing to see.”
That was also in reference to Sunday’s looming Premier League fixture at home to the champions Manchester City. If Liverpool win that match they could open up a daunting 11-point gap at the top, although there is concern over possible injuries to Ibrahima Konate and the outstanding Conor Bradley.
Conor Bradley slide-tackles Kylian Mbappe
Conor Bradley was outstanding against Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe
Slot said he did not know the extent of the damage, adding: “I know where they have pain but how bad or good it is is difficult to judge so close after the game, but this happens. We missed Trent (Alexander-Arnold), (Diogo) Jota, Alisson today, Kostas (Tsimikas) we missed. I am really hoping both are available but, if not, someone else has to step up.”
Liverpool stepped up here in an impressive performance with Slot, having taken over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, admitting they are ahead of schedule. “If before the season I had counted points for this point in the season I wouldn’t have done as much as we have now,” he admitted.
“This team has always been there. The last two years have maybe been different but it was only a few adjustments, we are only five games in in a new format. We are happy where we are but not getting carried away by winning a group-stage game. This club wants more.”
The tie was witnessed by Slot’s young family who flew over from the Netherlands. “They took a few days off school to be here,” he said. “They will be here for Man City but it will not influence the game! To have family around, it is always a good thing, because you don’t have to be focused for 24 hours ... 18 hours maybe!”
‘They were more up for it than us’
Bellingham conceded that Madrid – who are now languishing in 24th place, just above failing to even qualify for the play-off for the knock-out stages in the new format – deserved to lose.
“I think, to be fair, from the first minute they probably just took control of the game,” the England midfielder said, adding: “I think they were more up for it than us which was really disappointing to say, but it’s a bad result against probably the best-performing team in Europe. It’s no disgrace to come here – we are disappointed in the way we performed but the important thing is we use it in the right way now. We’ve got three games left in the group and it’s important we win all of them to give ourselves the best possible chance in the standings.”
Much of the criticism of Madrid will focus on another poor performance from Kylian Mbappe who – liked Mohamed Salah – failed to score a penalty. Madrid’s under-pressure coach, Carlo Ancelotti, admitted Mbappe is struggling for “confidence” following his big move from Paris St-Germain.
“He’s a wonderful player but the pressure because of how good he is, is humongous,” Ancelotti said. “The penalty is not the reason why we lost the game. As a collective we weren’t good enough on the night, they performed better than us and it’s as simple as that.”
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