Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-1 in their Champions League opener
Liverpool started their Champions League campaign by beating AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro. The Reds had to come back from a goal down after conceding just three minutes into the game when Christian Pulisic punished their slow start to put the Rossoneri in front.
Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk put the Reds in front with headers before half-time prior to Dominik Szoboszlai’s finishing touches on the win on the 67th minute after he was setup by Cody Gakpo. Arne Slot started his European career with Liverpool on a winning note, while there was also a debut for Federico Chiesa after his transfer from Juventus last month.
The Reds’ success over the Rossoneri is also a morale-boosting result for the Premier League side after they were beaten by Nottingham Forest at Anfield last weekend. Liverpool are up against Bournemouth at the weekend, but before their clash with the Cherries, here is a look at the three talking points from their vital European Cup triumph over AC Milan.
A rare off day for Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah has been the go-to man for Liverpool during the big Champions League and Premier League nights more often than not but the Egyptian was far from his usual self against AC Milan. Not only did he blank on the scoresheet or failed to provide an assist, but he looked a bit lacklustre and underperformed down the right flank.
Salah had five shots on goal, but none of them were past Mike Maignan while he also attempted just 19 passes with a 79% completion rate, as per Fotmob. He created just one chance as well and completed just three dribbles out of four. Defensively as well, the 32-year-old was caught out of position with Trent Alexander-Arnold facing two-on-one situations against Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez on numerous occasions.
It will be interesting to see how the Egyptian bounces back after a bright start to the season before the international break but two successive outings without making an impact thereafter.
Centre backs to the rescue for Liverpool
After an early blip in the Liverpool defence which AC Milan took full advantage of through Christian Pulisic, the centre backs stepped up to good effect to help them in coming back to secure a win. Ibrahima Konate equalised through Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick on the 23rd minute and Virgil van Dijk followed it up with the eventual match-winner on the 41st minute, as he headed in Kostas Tsimikas’ corner.
It was a dominant performance by both the defenders who were all over Alvaro Morata during the game and did not provide much space to Noah Okafor or Tammy Abraham after they were introduced into the game either. Between themselves, Konate and Van Dijk completed 117 passes with a success rate of 91%.
In praising the defenders, the work-rate of the full backs cannot be understated as Alexander-Arnold and Tsimikas were also on their toes for most of the game but delivered under pressure at a hostile venue. A good defensive foundation has been key to Liverpool’s success early in the season and will go a long way in determining how they finish the campaign in May next year.
Gravenberch impresses once more
Ryan Gravenberch has arguably been Liverpool’s most improved player so far in the season. He played regularly under Jurgen Klopp as well, but his form was nowhere as close to what it has been this season, particularly in the Reds’ wins over Manchester United and AC Milan.
With Salah not contributing defensive, the former Bayern Munich midfielder was there to help Alexander-Arnold out at times while he also nullified Tijjani Reijnders’ threat from Milan’s engine room. At the back, he made seven interceptions and 10 recoveries. Gravenberch contributed to equal measure when going forward as he dictated the play with a 90% passing accuracy.
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He is not making Arne Slot feel the lack of depth in midfield and the manager will hope that his compatriot can maintain this level of consistency throughout the campaign.
