Liverpool are now outright league leaders in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League following their 4-0 demolishing of Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield.
Both teams were expected to produce fireworks based on analysis of their playing styles but it turned out to be a whitewash of the German team by Arne Slot’s men, who are now 4/4 in the ongoing season.
The Dutchman is now leading both the Premier League and the Champions League, and the club’s fans are ecstatic about how things are playing out.
Speaking to the media on his approach to the game, Slot said, “Like many times now, managers change their game plan when they come to Anfield or when they play us – that’s also what we saw today.
“We’ve seen a lot of games from Leverkusen but I’ve never seen [Victor] Boniface playing from the left. So, they played without a nine and that’s why they overloaded the midfield a lot. It was quite difficult to press them high. But the good thing was that we hardly conceded anything and I think during the first half if there were chances, they were for us.
“But [in the] second half we could adjust to the game plan of the first half, we took a bit more risks, we were better with the ball as well. Normally they defend more in a 5-2-3, now they defended in a 4-4-2, so they changed quite a lot and we could adjust to that at half-time.”
Luis Diaz proved to be the hero of the night, scoring three of the four goals with which Liverpool defeated Leverkusen. Slot praised the Colombian and spoke about his importance in the team.
“Not only the people in Colombia like and love Lucho, the fans of Liverpool love him a lot as well. I heard many times the fans singing his song. And the manager likes him a lot as well – I don’t love him but I like him a lot!
“He’s played many, many games but I just said something about Darwin Nunez: in the Premier League and the Champions League, you have to play so many games at the highest level and it’s not always possible for every player to play every game, especially in certain positions.
“So, if you are a centre-back, normally you run not as much as a left-winger or a full-back or a midfielder – and especially our wingers. But because you all look at the goals Lucho scored and the goals Cody scored, I also look at the fact how hard they track back, how much they have to defend.
“I ask a lot from them, so that’s why sometimes we have to rotate them. But Lucho, for me, is a starter. And I said this three days ago about Cody as well – he’s, for me, a starter also.”
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