Arne Slot brutally shot down one reporter’s question in the post-match press conference after Liverpool’s 1-0 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.
The Reds survived a rocky first 20 minutes and nervy end to the game to preserve their 100% record in the Champions League this season, having dominated proceedings in between the top and tail but had only Darwin Nunez’s goal to show for it.
The Dutchman had admitted that he wasn’t overly impressed with his team’s performance in the 2-1 victory against Chelsea last weekend, but when he was asked by one journalist if he was concerned about ‘not dominating’ at the Red Bull Arena, he calmly produced a stone-cold response.
Slot savages reporter’s question
Slot retorted (via Match of the Day): “You were not inside the stadium? You were, and you thought we didn’t dominate?”.
When it was put to him that Leipzig were on top at the start and finish to the match, the Liverpool boss continued: “If you play big teams and you play a Pot 1 team in an away game, there will always be moments in the game that the other team has some moments as well, and I think one of them was from a corner kick.
“The way I looked at this game was that, for large parts of the game, we had total dominance like in all the other games we played except for the one against Chelsea, so I’m not worried at all about this game.
“I was a bit more ‘worried’ [gestures air quotes], if you want to call it like this, after the Chelsea game, but this is how I like to see our team play, much more chances than the other team, much more ball possession, much more time freeing up the midfield from the build-up. That was good but I agree with you; maybe you were only there for the first 10 and last 20 minutes!”
Liverpool were good value for their win
Maybe the nervy finish to the game gave the impression that Liverpool were lucky to come away with all three points – Stephen Warnock seemed to think so when he opined that the Reds ‘got away with it’ – but overall we think Slot’s assessment is a fair one.
The visitors dominated in terms of xG (2.31 to 0.77) and also had more shots (17 to 13) and possession (57%-43%) than Leipzig (Sofascore), which all suggests that we were good value for the victory, which as the Dutchman pointed out came in what was theoretically our hardest Champions League fixture away to top-seeded opposition.
While it may have had echoes of the Chelsea match due to the tense finish and one-goal winning margin, LFC were in more control last night than against the Blues, who came out on top in the shot count (12 to 9) and had more possession (57%-43%) at Anfield on Sunday (Sofascore).
Some will point to the two goals that Lois Openda had disallowed for offside and the need for Caoimhin Kelleher to produce some excellent saves, but we’d counter that by referencing Alexis Mac Allister’s shot which struck the crossbar, a baffling decision not to give a penalty for Willi Orban’s foul on Darwin Nunez, and the fine stops that Peter Gulacsi made throughout the night.
Liverpool won 1-0 in Leipzig, and that was also the score between Slot and the reporter whose question was calmly yet pointedly decimated by the Dutchman!
You can watch Slot’s response to the reporter below, via @BBCMOTD on X: