After this exciting triumphant comeback, boss Arne Slot’s belief that this “suits you, sir,” was perfectly understandable.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, the first centre defenders from Liverpool to score in a Champions League encounter, reversed the tide of the game after an early disaster.
Liverpool beat AC Milan with an impressive Champions League displayCredit: Rex
Liverpool won their first Champions League match under Arne SlotCredit: Getty
Liverpool ace Ibrahima Konate equalised after AC Milan’s openerCredit: Getty
Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk turned the game around with a headerCredit: Rex
Liverpool’s first three points in the Champions League were secured by Dominik Szoboszlai.Regards: Getty
With a well-executed third goal, Dominik Szoboszlai made his manager’s 46th birthday truly celebratory.
Models are showing off their talents on catwalks throughout the city in honour of Milan fashion week.
After succeeding Jurgen Klopp, Slot was immediately questioned about whether it was right for him to desire to change his team.
He believes that with a new uniform and a more conservative, possession-based style of play, the team might become the champions of the Premier League once again and perhaps even the overlords of Europe.
That plan suddenly had holes in it during Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 triumph on Saturday.
The side of the slot was mainly flat and lacked inspiration, failing to carry off a surprise move intended to agitate and frustrate.
Due to an incredible strike from Callum Hudson-Odoi, the game concluded in a defeat that surprised Slot more than anybody else.
After three straight wins without conceding a goal to start his rule, the Kop, who had not yet fully thrown their support behind him, were seriously casting doubt on him.
Even though Slot wants greater control over the game and less of the attacking chaos of Klopp’s reign, this sound was more akin to German heavy metal.
Even still, the evening’s start couldn’t have gone any worse for him.
Following Forest’s defeat, he made two changes: Cody Gakpo took the place of Luis Diaz, while Andy Robertson was swapped out for Kostas Tsimikas. Probably wishing his employer had not bothered, the Greek left-back watched as Milan took the lead in the third minute.
The Milan keeper, Mike Maignan, launched a rapid rush down his flank, isolating him.
Two teammates raced in behind Christian Pulisic as he quickly cleared the area.
Konate shifted out of position in fear as Pulisic, one of Paulo Fonseca’s four former Chelsea players, dashed inside.
Before Alisson noticed what had hit him, the American attacker fired across the goal and into the far corner.
Alvaro Morata, Fikayo Tomori, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic’s former teammates at Stamford Bridge, joined him in joy as the stadium’s renowned Curva Sud went crazy.
a poor start
Slot and his team were feeling down at this time because they were everywhere and their 4,400+ travelling fans were stuck up there in the skies, worrying again.
However, center-half Strahinja Pavlovic made a terrible play from the back, and Liverpool gradually gained the lead in the game.
His team held out as Slot’s men poured in, but by the twenty-third minute, they were tied, and it could not have been easier to equalise.
Trent Alexander-Arnold beat his marker, Konate, with a left-wing free kick that rose high and went home uncontested. All of a sudden, Slot’s team was back in the groove, producing that incredible three-game season opener.
When he ought to have at least tested Maignan, Diogo Jota tore into the box and blasted a right footer wide.
Mohamed Salah struck the woodwork reflexively, and then, a little unbalanced, he cracked off the bar-post junction again.
Reds strike back.
Champions League champions seven times Six teams were up against Liverpool, but the Reds were getting back into their rhythm and, more crucially, their confidence.
Jota stepped aside to search for Salah. Maignan shuddered as Anfield’s Egyptian King revealed even more magnificence. But after 41 minutes, Van Dijk nodded in when Tsimikas cut the corner from the right to give Liverpool the lead.
Just before the half, Maignan’s excellent block of a valid Gakpo shot would have made it three.
Frenchman Maignan was forced off after a violent clash with Tomori as Jota closed in for the kill.
In the end, Liverpool attempted twenty-three times; eleven of those shots found the goal, and the other two struck the crossbar.
Whether Slot’s or not, Szoboszlai’s seamless finish in the 67th minute cemented their supremacy in a victory that was ultimately about pure elegance.