Arne Slot sounded a warning about the challenge his Liverpool side would face with the Champions League earlier this season
The jubilant away end was still belting their way through the Anfield songbook when Arne Slot took his place at the top table inside the Old Trafford media room back in August. And amid all the plaudits for his Liverpool players after they continued their impressive start to the season with a memorable 3-0 win came a challenge.
“Only three games have been played, only games from Sunday to Sunday, there’s still a lot for us to prove,” said the Reds boss. “I don’t want to be the one that spoils everything, but two years ago was the last time we played in the Champions League and we all know how that season ended.”
A month later, Slot was banging the same drum after the 2-1 Premier League victory at Wolves.
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“Two years ago was the last time we played Champions League and we all know what kind of a season that was, and last season we had a much better season but every time Virgil (van Dijk) and other players could get a rest during the week and play once a week,” he said.
“So that’s a completely different situation to playing Champions League during the week against a very tough and hard opponent and then play Arsenal and then play Aston Villa and then play all these top teams we are going to face. For us there is still a lot to prove especially if you look back at the season two years ago.”
Of course, the memory of Liverpool’s most recent Champions League campaign remains strong in the memory, thrashed 4-1 at Napoli in their opening group game and then embarrassed 5-2 at home by Real Madrid in the first knockout round.
And last season’s Europa League run – where Liverpool often fielded much-changed teams – ended at the quarter-final when Atalanta, arguably the first difficult opponent the Reds faced, won 3-0 at Anfield on their way to winning the competition.
Small wonder, then, that Slot was urging caution before any solid predictions could be made about his squad’s ability to cope with so many high-profile games in quick succession, particularly given his preference to not overly rotate.
The evidence thus far, though, has been hugely encouraging. While having won all four games in the new-look Champions League first stage – only once before, in 2021/22, have they enjoyed such a good start – Liverpool have subsequently negotiated some tricky domestic hurdles.
Four days after beating AC Milan, Bournemouth – future victors against Arsenal and Manchester City – were downed 3-0 at Anfield. Less than 72 hours after the home win against Bologna, Liverpool eked out a 1-0 triumph at Crystal Palace. And in the next game after the win at RB Leipzig, Slot’s side salvaged a 2-2 draw at title contenders Arsenal.
The latest test comes on Saturday evening when, after Tuesday’s 4-0 thumping of Bayer Leverkusen, another top-four rival in Aston Villa visit Anfield. More difficult yet will be the game at home to Manchester City that follows the visit of Real Madrid later this month, while in December after the trip to Girona comes a home game against Fulham.
Should Slot stay consistent with his team selection, there will be at least three changes against Villa, with Liverpool having made three, four and then three alterations to the Premier League starting line-up that directly followed a Champions League game this season.
The Reds’ strong start to the league stage means they are in a good position to qualify in the top eight for the knockout stages with games to spare, which would give them scope to rest players in January’s final two games at home to Lille and away to PSV Eindhoven, which are followed by a home game against Ipswich Town and a trip to Bournemouth respectively.
For now, however, there can be no dispute Slot’s players have risen to the Champions League challenge laid down by their head coach.
