3 brightest stars in Liverpool’s impressive comeback

This morning, Liverpool kicked off their Champions League campaign with an away trip to AC Milan.

Coach Arne Slot’s team traveled to the city of Milan, Italy, to face the tough opponent AC Milan in the first group stage match of the 2024/25 Champions League season, with low morale. The reason is that they had just been defeated 1-0 by Nottingham Forest in the 4th round of the Premier League.

Aiming to secure a positive result against the Italian side, the Dutch coach made some adjustments to the starting lineup. Luis Diaz was rested, allowing Cody Gakpo to start. In defense, Kostas Tsimikas made his first start of the season, replacing Andy Robertson.

Despite three players, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, and Diogo Jota, underperforming last weekend, they were trusted to start again, while the central midfield duo remained the combination of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. With some lineup changes and playing away from home, Liverpool began the match cautiously. However, they couldn’t avoid conceding an early goal in the 3rd minute from Christian Pulisic.

Nevertheless, Arne Slot’s men calmly regained control of the game and gradually posed threats to the home side’s goal. They equalized in the 23rd minute through Ibrahima Konate, followed by two more goals from Virgil van Dijk and Szoboszlai.

With a 3-1 victory over Milan, Liverpool made a perfect start to their first Champions League campaign under Slot. The win also restored their confidence after the Nottingham loss and prepared them mentally for their upcoming match against Bournemouth this weekend.

Here are the three best players for the visitors this morning:

Virgil van Dijk

Wearing the captain’s armband, Van Dijk had an impressive game both in defense and attack. The Dutch international led the backline effectively, completely shutting down the home team’s forward duo, Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata. He also scored a crucial header at the end of the first half, putting Liverpool ahead 2-1.

Alexis Mac Allister

Post-match statistics showed that The Kop had only 51% possession but managed to fire 23 shots, all thanks to Mac Allister’s impressive playmaking and sharp passes forward. This is the kind of class Liverpool needs from the 2022 World Cup winner to progress deep into the Champions League.

Dominik Szoboszlai

Leaving behind a poor performance from the weekend, Dominik Szoboszlai played brilliantly in this morning’s match against AC Milan. The Hungarian international was tireless on the pitch, making several intelligent runs. One of those runs gave him the opportunity to shoot in the 67th minute, sealing the 3-1 victory for Liverpool.