Liverpool. AC Milan. Istanbul. Steven Gerrard geeing up the crowd. Penalties. Wobbly legs. Athens. Inzhagi. Not starting Crouch. Clive Tyldesley. Nat Phillips taking 6 players back to Argos in the San Siro. These all go hand in hand in hand when you think about Liverpool and AC Milan. Or at least, they do to me.
It’s a real game of football. No oil cheats, just two legitimate European heavyweights slugging it out in one of the world’s most recognisable stadiums.
Well, this wasn’t so much of a slugfest as a routine second-round knockout. To stick with the boxing (which I hate) analogy, Milan landed the first punch as well. Last night was a very good European away performance – apart from the first ten minutes when we were groggy from the punch we got on Saturday. I have no idea what we were playing at against Forest but we continued that dreadful lethargy into this game.
The Chaaaaaaaaaaaaampions League anthem had barely stopped echoing around the San Siro when we had our warning – a break down the left halted by van Dijk being in the right place at the right time as well as the offside flag. But did we heed it? Did we balls – we were behind inside of 4 minutes as the entirety of the defence went walkies and Pulisic had the freedom of the city to shoot across Alisson into the bottom corner. Great finish, but could we have given him any more space? It’s difficult to compute exactly what was going on because we were totally exposed.
Pulisic is one of these players who has a habit of always scoring against us. A Sean Bartlett. An O’Neil Donaldson. At least there is a crumb of comfort in the fact he is a pretty good player, indeed if his body wasn’t made of water biscuits, he could be more than that. A lot of ex-Chelsea lads have rocked up on the red and black side of Milan actually, haven’t they?
After the goal went in there was a long delay as Milan’s keeper Maignon received what felt like his first of 18 stints of injury treatment. This allowed us to have a reset and regain focus.
It was still all a bit ragged for about ten minutes and then once we settled down, we took an iron grip and turned in a very good European away performance. Slot obviously likes this midfield three as they started together yet again and it was they who turned the tide, winning the ball back quickly and efficiently and keeping it well. Gravenberch is a player reborn. He was everywhere again but more on him later.
Mo Salah is obviously European (and elsewhere) goalscoring royalty and he was unlucky to not add to his tally, having a personal dual with the crossbar in that first half. We took an absolutely crushing hold on the game. There was no way out for Milan, they were unable to get any kind of foothold in the game whatsoever.
It’s only when you look back at the chances we had that you realise how dominant that first half was. Mo hit the bar twice, we scored two goals and Jota had that great chance that he inexplicably poked wide.
It goes to show that we are a very good team and the gulf between Serie A and the Premier League is huge - as it should be with the money swilling around in our league. Milan are simply not used to Hurricane Liverpool rocking up in town, pressing them to death and forcing them to kick the ball long or into touch and we overwhelmed them with wave after wave of attack.
For all our possession and good play, the equaliser was from a free kick. I have visions of Calabria still arguing to his wife today that he didn’t foul Gakpo. He did – he wiped him out in fact. Regulation free kick, regulation yellow card.
Great ball whipped in by Trent, Konate rising highest for an easy header and his first goal in 2 and a half years. It always feels like he should score more goals than he does because he is a presence in the box. He couldn’t miss this one though – huge questions of Milan’s defending and more on that to come.
Speaking of Gakpo, he had his best game for the club so far here I thought. He looks like he has had Slot in his ear over the summer and it has given him a huge boost. He is more direct, he is more confident and above all, more aggressive. You always get the feeling from Gakpo like when you order from this new Chinese people have been banging on about. What you ordered was alright but you just were left wanting a bit more and can’t really see what the hype is about. Not at the moment – Gakpo is in great form and long may it continue.
We should have quickly gone in front but Jota contrived to poke it wide. A real head scratcher from someone who is usually so clinical. However, as we often joke about, he had one of those days where he didn’t resemble a footballer. He was simply not very good on this occasion.
With Milan now scrambling to contain us, we really went after them. Mo hit the bar again and it felt like us going in front was inevitable. When it happened, it was another set piece. You usually associate Italian teams with being solid defensively but the marking for van Dijk’s goal was terrible. Virgil escaping their attentions was so easy, he literally walked free to nod home Tsimikas’ corner. To go in front at half time was no more than we deserved.
The second half would go on to be a quieter affair – we were much the better team but asserted this much vaunted “control” that we have read that Slot likes so much. The reality is we were very comfortable. I was worried the game was going to last until the early hours after Maignon eventually decided to come off after he was caught by Jota’s follow through when the striker had a good chance to score but hit it straight at the keeper.
It was a good save don’t get me wrong. After he stopped doing his Fabrizio Ravanelli impression, Milan brought on an actual child in his place. The goalkeeper was a young nipper, make no mistake. With that being said, we barely tested him.
The third and decisive goal came after 67 minutes as Gakpo was played in by Szoboslai, who continued his run to shin in from the Dutchman’s left wing cross. It was a perfect time to score as it killed the game off as a contest. I don’t think Szoboslai is playing particularly well and tonight was no different, but he did well for the goal as he found room in the middle to play Gakpo in and got forward in support. I still want more from him personally as he has not hit the high standards he hit in the first 3 months last season but this was more like it.
The game petered out at that moment. Off came Jota (who had a stinker, let’s be honest) and Gakpo, who was great and on came Nunez and Diaz respectively. We took our foot off the gas considerably and I am ok with that. Milan threatened very little though they did make a break down the left and looked like they would get a shot away only for Gravenberch to get back in and nick the ball behind for a corner.
There have been a lot of questions about Gravenberch in light of the pursuit for Zubamendi et al, but for me he has that “6” shirt now. He has played very well this season and his game has clearly developed over the summer. He is nicking the ball back, using it well and going past people.
We might have botched the Zubamendi deal but maybe it can SAVE FSG MILLIONS ™ and we actually have the 6 that we needed all along. There was no doubt at all that Gravenberch was very talented, we just needed to find what fits him. Klopp couldn’t do it consistently – maybe Slot has?
The last ten minutes fizzled out and the referee only added 6 minutes despite Maignon’s best attempts. Milan took their supposed main man off. I know his record is good, but has any one actually seen Alvaro Morata have a good game? It feels to me like it’s something I am yet to see. He was anonymous tonight.
We even got Chiesa on for all of three minutes which was a shame as I’d liked him to have had 10-15 minutes but at least he’s got that first appearance out of the way. Endo also came on and - protecting his gimmick - gave the ball away and fouled someone in quick succession despite having just three minutes in which to do so.
There was still time for Alisson to push a Rafa Leao shot onto the post in the 96th minute. A really sharp save given he had nothing to do more or less since the tenth minute. And with that, the end and a very comprehensive win on the road for the Reds.
If Slot failed his first big test on Saturday, he passed another in the San Siro on a pretty big stage. Falling behind in the midst of a terrible start to the game would have set nerves jangling, I know it did mine. But we recovered expertly to dispatch Milan with relative ease. No comebacks, dramas or Cruyff turns here. Just an easy win.
Difficult to choose between Gravenberch and Gakpo for the star man but I think Gravenberch shades it – he is doing really well at the moment and long may it continue.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Gomez), Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch (Endo), Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah (Chiesa), Jota (Nunez), Gakpo (Diaz):
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