Liverpool made it two wins from two in this season’s Champions League, beating Bologna 2-0 in an entertaining game at Anfield.
Arne Slot had demanded that his players ‘showed the competition what it had missed’ after Liverpool’s absence last season and they played like they had that instruction in mind during a slick opening half hour, which included Alexis Mac Allister finishing off a well-crafted goal to make it 1-0. But Bologna grew into the game as the first half progressed, hitting the woodwork twice in front of the Kop.
Mohamed Salah — creator of the opener — made it 2-0 in the second half with a wonderful finish, a scoreline that means Slot is the first Liverpool manager to ever record eight wins from his first nine games in charge.
Gregg Evans and James Horncastle analyse the talking points from the game.
Not a perfect display, but another win for Slot
Should Liverpool be happy with that? Well, it’s another win and it adds to that fine start of eight victories in the opening nine games in all competitions. But it wasn’t as smooth and free-flowing as Slot would have hoped.
In the build-up to the game Slot said he wanted his players to show a hunger on their return to the Champions League having missed out last season.
That message was reiterated from the sidelines in the early stages as he was seen asking his midfielders to raise the tempo. After scoring the opener, Liverpool began to express themselves and responded well. It looked like it was only a matter of time before more goals followed, but they were pinned back midway through the first half by Bologna’s brave attack. The visitors pushed and pressed high and that caused the defence to misplace passes, most notably through Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Crucially, though, Liverpool survived and the second half was a different story, even with the late changes.
Through ruthless finishing and persistent hard work off the ball, Liverpool got the job done once again and while this result or performance will not define the season, the early signs continue to be positive for a group who are steadily becoming a winning machine.
Gregg Evans
Mohamed Salah: Still setting records
Mohamed Salah, even at the ripe age of 32, is still showing no signs of letting up.
It has been a blistering start to another campaign for the Egyptian, highlighted by his vital goal contributions in these early months of the season.
By superbly setting up Alexis MacAllister for Liverpool’s early opener, he became the quickest player to reach five goals and five assists in a season for Liverpool in 35 years — the last player to also do so after nine games was John Barnes in the 1989-90 season.
Salah’s creativity has helped Liverpool get off to a fine start under Slot and he looks refreshed on the right wing. In the Premier League win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend he tracked back superbly and became a surprisingly useful defender in the closing stages after converting the match-winning penalty. Tonight, though, was all about his qualities in the final third — something he demonstrated even more clearly in the second half with a wonderful bending finish to make it 2-0, a strike that means he is the first ever Liverpool player to score in five successive Champions League/European Cup games at Anfield.
Those records just keep on coming.
Gregg Evans
Another wasted opportunity for Darwin Nunez?
That’s three starts in the last four games in all competitions for Darwin Nunez but his goal return just isn’t high enough to convince Slot to use him more often.
Yes, his hold-up play, at times, was impressive. The Uruguyan showed power, control and skill to play an important role in the opening goal but again, it wasn’t his name on the scoresheet.
Instead, when Nunez found himself in the perfect position to run in on goal and use his speed to pull away from the Bologna backline, he mistimed his run and was caught offside. That was the big chance that went begging and with the right movement, he would have added to his tally for the season; just a single goal in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth.
This was an opportunity missed. Nunez had good service from those around him and three shots on goal but only one found the target. Inevitably he was the first player substituted early in the second half when Slot wanted a change in the forward positions and if Diogo Jota stays fit, he will continue to play the big games with Nunez restricted to a supporting role.
Gregg Evans
Bologna show they belong on this stage
Vincenzo Italiano has been typecast as a high-line fundamentalist online. His teams often dominate. They stand out in stats for high intensity pressing and field tilt, and are excellent at regaining the ball in dangerous areas. But when they do give up chances, they tend to be big ones.
Now it is one thing to execute this style well on the way to back-to-back Conference League finals, as was the case with Fiorentina. It is another altogether to do it in the Champions League at Anfield.
Italiano showed his willingness to compromise against Liverpool and yet still remained true to himself. He did not insist, as Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers seemed to do in Dortmund on Tuesday night, on going all-in on his style. Bologna, at times, played a mid and low block. They let goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski kick it long and weren’t afraid to let centre-back Sam Beukema hoof it in behind for the forwards to chase down either. Nevertheless Bologna picked their moments to press and did so quite well. they ended the first half, 1-0 down, but in fiducia; growing in confidence.
Italiano left his full-backs and fastest centre-back Jhon Lucumi 1v1 against Liverpool’s front three. He pushed Lucumi’s partner Beukema up on Dominik Szoboszlai and had Remo Freuler get after Ryan Gravenberch. Hustling Liverpool goal-kicks and their build-up almost paid off for them as the lively Dan Ndoye struck the woodwork twice after dangerous regains. Alisson also did excellently to palm a well-struck shot wide from Kacper Urbanski following another giveaway forced by Ndoye.
This time last year Bologna merely dreamed of qualifying for the Conference League. But the flashes they showed at Anfield suggested they’re not out of place in the Champions League either.
James Horncastle
What did Arne Slot say?
We’ll bring you the Liverpool manager’s thoughts after his post-match press conference.
What next for Liverpool?
Saturday, October 5: Crystal Palace (Away), Premier League, 12.30pm UK, 7.30am ET
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
