Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was far from happy with his side's performance in the 1-0 win in Girona, extending the Champions League leaders' perfect start to six games.
Mohamed Salah's penalty in the 63rd minute – his 50th goal in the competition – was the difference, but it was far from smooth sailing, with the first half especially worrying for Slot.
“If you ask me about all six matches, I am very happy with all the results,” he said.
“I am very satisfied with the five games, the way we played. I am far from satisfied with the performance tonight.”
When asked what made him so unhappy, he added: 'A lot. Mainly two things.
“When you play against a team that has such a good idea of football and knows how to bring the ball forward from the back, like some of the other teams we have faced recently, like [Manchester] City or Real Madrid, you have to be so intense if you want to make it difficult for them.
“But if you wait a few seconds every time and then press, you get outplayed so easily because this team can get you into trouble and this is what they have shown throughout the Champions League campaign, except at PSV Eindhoven away.
“I almost feel sorry for them because they deserve so much more in this campaign 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 our goal.
The low intensity meant goalkeeper Alisson Becker had a busier evening than he expected after returning from a two-month absence with a hamstring injury.
He made five saves in the first half to extend the club's run without conceding for almost nine hours, and Slot owed a lot to the Brazil international.
“We have a great goalkeeper. I said jokingly: 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 put on these performances and hope he stays fit.”
Why Alisson's return matters
Sky Sports' Ben site:
This result gives Slot the luxury of being able to rotate in Liverpool's last two league games. Don't underestimate the benefit of that as they try to fight on all fronts.
Former Southampton and Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu admitted Girona had to do their best to take Liverpool out of rhythm – and the hosts created several chances to complete a shock victory.
Brazilian international Alisson helped the Reds to a fifth successive clean sheet in this competition, something they last achieved in 2005. The 32-year-old has been sidelined since October with a hamstring problem that has forced him to miss 11 games.
In his absence, Caoimhin Kelleher kept five clean sheets, including against Real Madrid and Manchester City, but made his first real mistake at Newcastle last Wednesday, with his late assessment allowing the home side to grab a 3-3 draw.
But Alisson has that extra quality. He showed this to frustrate Arnaut Danjuma more than once on a night when the people in front of him were not at their best.
Girona's end product let them down, but when there were moments of quality it was Alisson who stood tall to ensure there were no hiccups in Catalonia.
“Alisson definitely didn't look like he had been out for two months,” said Slot. “I joked with the players that maybe they wanted to see how ready he was because they had him make so many saves. But he showed why I always say he is our number one.”
Darwin Nunez, who has scored just one goal in his last ten appearances, was denied twice by Paulo Gazzaniga, but the Uruguayan international had another of those now-too-common frustrating performances with his fluffy header from Dominik Szoboszlai's hanging cross, which kept the supporting Curtis Jones meant. and Salah could not benefit from it.
But the hosts were undeterred and would have been ahead if not for Alisson and Daley Blind's lack of composure in front of goal.
The former Manchester United, Ajax and Bayern Munich defender's last goal came 11 months ago and that seemed evident in his swiss-and-miss from Miguel Gutierrez's cross in the six-yard box.
Alisson saved Alejandro Frances' follow-up attempt, punched away Miguel Gutierrez's shot and flung himself to the right to keep out Yaser Asprilla's long-range drive. Liverpool rallied after the restart and won.
Comments