Champions League week 3
Liverpool win its second game in the Champions League group stage and sit at the second place in the group with 6 points, 1 point behind leaders Napoli. Following the draw at Manchester United [1-1], Klopp’s men were expected to come out big and they did with a goal after only 120 seconds and a 4-1 win in Genk.
Oxlade-Chamberlain on fire
The English International scored a brace for the Reds and was the best player on the pitch. Sane and Salah added their name onto the scoreboard for after all an easy victory in Belgium. Liverpool and Napoli will have a chance to qualify with a win at home in a couple weeks.
Coach Klopp on the victory:
“Good moments, a very good start, another 10/15 minutes absolutely OK, exactly how you have to do it. They start with a 4-4-2 so it was for a midfield press, we have to play around. We were really flexible, we did that well. We didn’t create too much but it was exactly [right]: keep them busy, find the gaps, pass it through, pass it behind, all that stuff.
That was the plan obviously, and it worked for 10 or 15 minutes OK and then not anymore because we lost completely unexpected balls which we were not ready for, which in the formation is not possible because if you are in a wide formation and lose the ball in the centre.
We lost too many of them and sometimes we took in the wrong moment a risk. A pass or a one-two in a very tight space, it makes not too much sense. We were not clear enough, lost these balls, had to defend them with legs to run for it. We got a bit of the momentum, after that start completely unnecessary. So it was a pretty stiff first half and then we could show the boys a couple of spaces which they could use, maybe should use in the second half.
Then we scored the second goal, the first goal was brilliant but the second was even nicer . All our goals were unbelievably beautiful. The second was like it was a proper knock for Genk it looked like. So we scored a third and fourth and then conceded one, which is not cool. But it’s not for us the biggest problem in the world. We won the game, job done, that’s it.”
