Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, maintains that his birthday was not as significant as his team’s 3-1 Champions League triumph over AC Milan.
The Dutchman turned 46 on the day of the game, but the main goal was to start his maiden European season with a victory.
After falling behind early against Christian Pulisic, they were able to equalise through goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk, and Ibrahima Konate.
Slot expressed his satisfaction with the team’s strong recovery from Saturday’s shocking loss to Nottingham Forest. “I said a few times, normally you celebrate your birthday with your friends and family but this was a real good alternative to play against a special club for Liverpool and a special club for Dutch people,” Slot said.
“It was impressive to witness how we came back from a 1-0 deficit with Forest on our minds to win the match. The players’ approach to taking control of the game and winning 3-1.
“We got eight corners against Forest and didn’t score, so I believe we were a little upset with the outcome.
“We believed that someone would be rewarded for all the effort we put into the set-pieces. We needed set pieces because we were at ease with the ball and could hit the bar in open play.
Slot was particularly pleased with his team’s response after falling behind early.
“We lost the ball in the first four or five minutes due to poor decision-making, which allowed them to counterattack,” he continued.
Arne Slot, manager of Liverpool, during the Milan stage encounter in the UEFA Champions League (Fabrizio Carabelli/PA)
“However, we increased our possession dominance after that, which prevented counterattacks.”
Paulo Fonseca, the Milan coach, said that the team began to lose the game when they gave up the equaliser.
He stated, “I don’t think we lacked the right attitude.”
“I think we got off to a good start, but after giving up, we lost our composure and began making critical errors, which are crucial when playing a team like Liverpool.”
“It’s true that Liverpool was superior.”