Liverpool almost secured qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League after a narrow 1-0 win against Girona at the Municipal de Montilivi thanks to Mohamed Salah’s VAR-decided penalty.
The result means Liverpool have won their opening six games in European competition for only the second time in the club’s history. Liverpool’s last game against Newcastle saw Arne Slot’s side fail to win for the third time in 21 games under the Dutchman.
They arrived in Girona knowing that another win would get them closer to securing a last-16 draw as one of the seeded teams. They cemented their top scorer status only after VAR intervened when Donny van de Beek was awarded a penalty for a foul on Luis Diaz in the box.
No player has scored more goals in Europe’s Big 5 leagues this season across all competitions than Mohamed Salah (28 – 16 goals, 12 assists).
Salah kept his composure and slotted the spot-kick past Paulo Gazzaniga to keep Liverpool perfect.
The Egypt international became the 11th player to reach 50 Champions League goals. Thierry Henry (51) and Thomas Müller (54) are attracting attention, ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kylian Mbappe.
Having missed a goal against Real Madrid two weeks ago, he made no mistake when presented with the chance in the 63rd minute to extend his impressive scoring run to 11 of his last 16 games.
Up until that point, it had been a rather difficult performance for the Premier League leaders, with Alisson producing good saves to deny the return of Brian Gill and Arnau Danjuma.
Twenty of Liverpool’s last 23 goals have now come after the break and, depending on other results from the sixth matchweek, they may already have enough points to secure a place in the top eight.
The side in the slot return to European action in January at home to Lille, mathematically securing a round of 16 tie with a side that has made it through the play-offs.
Meanwhile, Girona is facing the possibility of elimination with its fifth loss in its opening six games.
Why Alisson’s return is important
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson celebrates after winning.
This result gives Liverpool the luxury of rotating slots in their final two league stages of play. They try to fight on all fronts, so don’t underestimate that advantage.
Former Southampton and Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu admitted Girona had to do everything they could to throw Liverpool out of their rhythm, with the hosts seizing several chances to secure a shock win.
Brazil international Alisson helped Manchester United keep a fifth successive clean sheet in the competition, a feat they last achieved in 2005. Alisson, 32, has been sidelined since October with a hamstring problem, limiting him to 11 games.
During his absence, Caoimhin Kelleher kept five clean sheets, including against Real Madrid and Manchester City, but made his first mistake against Newcastle on Wednesday, a late lapse in judgment forcing the hosts to draw 3-3. I did it.
Salah has scored in four consecutive away games for Liverpool in all competitions for the first time since December 2022.
But Alisson has more qualities than that. He showed that he let Danjuma down several times on nights when those in front of him were not at their best.
Girona’s final product disappointed them, but when there were those moments of quality, it was Alisson who stood tall to keep the Catalans out of trouble.
“Alisson hasn’t looked like he’s been out for two months.” Slot said. “I joked with the players that I wanted to know how ready he was because he made so many saves, but he showed why I always say he is our best.”
Darwin Nunez, who has scored just once in his last 10 games, was twice denied by Gazzaniga, but Salah failed to take advantage, with the Uruguay international bracing Curtis Jones for a header that swelled Dominik Szoboszlai’s aerial cross.
Luis Diaz forced a penalty kick in the second half.
But the home side were undeterred and could have gone ahead had it not been for the composure of Alisson and Daley Blind in front of goal.
The former Manchester United, Ajax and Bayern Munich defender’s last goal was 11 months ago, which was evident when he swung wide of Miguel Gutierrez’s cross into the six-yard area.
Alisson blocked Alejandro Francis’ follow-up attempt, blocked Gutierrez’s shot and dove to his right to block Yasser Asprilla’s long-range drive. Liverpool rebounded after the restart and won.
Slot: Darwin needs a goal
Liverpool manager Arne Slot:
“I feel really bad for Girona. They are a really high-quality team and deserved a lot more than the three points they have had so far. They had a really good game plan today but we had a really good goalkeeper.
“I wanted to see Darwin score goals because he needed them, so I kept him on the pitch for quite some time. He was a threat, but you always ask yourself when a striker doesn’t score goals, whether they play poorly or lack confidence. Because it does.
“Girona have lost a lot of quality this summer, so for them to play like they do and give us, while Feyenoord and PSV are struggling so much, says a huge amount about them.”
Liverpool are firing on all cylinders – Opta Statistics
Arne Slott has won his first six European matches as Liverpool manager.
- Liverpool has won all six of its UEFA Champions League games this season. In the UEFA Champions League and European Cup, United have enjoyed a longer winning streak (seven games) across competitions only between September 2021 and February 2022.
- This is the third time that Liverpool has recorded five consecutive clean sheets in the UEFA Champions League and European Cup, following September-December 2005 and September 1983-March 1984.
- Girona have failed to score in four of their six UEFA Champions League games this season (W1 L5), but their total expected goals excluding penalties of 1.02 is the third highest in the competition this season behind their match against Sturm. Graz in November (1.67), Feyenoord in October (1.52).
- In major European competitions, Liverpool won five consecutive away games for the third time in history, following May 2022 (6 games) and September 1984 (5 games).
