Empire of the Kop
·17 September 2024
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·17 September 2024
Liverpool didn’t wait too long to level proceedings with AC Milan in their opening Champions League encounter in the new format.
Stephen Warnock spotted the Reds’ head coach, Arne Slot, applauding an entirely different moment prior to Ibrahima Konate’s leveller from a set-piece.
The Dutchman reportedly ‘applauded’ at the sight of Mo Salah almost completing a patient attack that culminated with the Egyptian hitting an effort against the bar.
“Liverpool have come to life. One thing they were in that attack was patient. Mo Salah down the right-hand-side, he drags it onto his right foot and crashes a shot against the bar. Arne Slot applauded, he was happy with what he saw,” the former Red spoke on BBC Radio 5 Live (via BBC Sport).
“You get the feeling Liverpool need to be calmer in the final third, if they take that extra touch the openings will come against this AC Milan side.”
Former Chelsea star Christian Pulisic opened the scoring after capitalising on a Kostas Tsimikas error in the first half of action at the San Siro.
Elsewhere, fellow Premier League outfit Aston Villa got off to a great start with a 3-0 win over Swiss side BSC Young Boys.
Mo Salah in action against AC Milan – (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
The former Serie A star (signed for £34.3m from AS Roma) had one of the highest ratings on the pitch (7.3 from Sofascore) at the time of writing.
By the 39th minute, our No.11 had struck the woodwork twice, completed 80% of his passes (4/5) and won 100% of his ground duels (3/3).
There’s yet to be a goal from Salah in Italy, but you get the sense he could very well capitalise with the hosts slowly falling apart in Milan. You can never put it past our Egyptian King!