The boss Arne Slot praised the mentality of Liverpool after Virgil van Dijk’s Stop-Time header achieved a 3-2 Champions League win against Atletico Madrid in Anfield.
The Premier League champions made a lead of two goals slipped after the efforts of Andy Robertson and Mo Salah were canceled by the double of Marcos Llorente before Van Dijk went home in the second minute of added time.
Slot said TNT Sports: “If you want to beat a team like Atletico, known and has an incredible mentality, you also have to beat them with their own weapon and that is mentality.
“I think that is what we have shown today, that we can also beat them by mentality. But I think we should have made it easier for ourselves.”
Slot handed the British record £ 125 million signing by Alexander Isak his first Liverpool performance by including him in his starting line-up and was happy with the Swede’s contribution.
The Dutchman, who celebrated the victory on his 47th birthday, said: “Especially since I think he played in the 60 minutes, he seemed to be pretty fit for me, so it was not as if he was already very tired after 10 minutes.
“He was just able to play at this level pretty well, so that was the most positive thing and that he can play football and that he is a pleasure to watch.
“That’s no surprise to me, but he might have been fitter than I expected.”
Slot was not sure if Isak will start again on Saturday in Anfield against Merseyside Rivals Everton.
He added: “I am really happy that he could start today. That’s why we didn’t play him against Burnley. He was good today and when Hugo (Ekitike) came in, he was also a big factor.
“We have two large number of nines and we will use them, both, they are here during the entire period.”
Robertson, credited with the opener after Salah’s fourth minute breeze in the defender, also thought that the victory should have been more comfortable on his part.
He said to TNT Sport: “I think we might have to win a little easier and a little easier.
“It is clear that it is great to continue to the end, but if you are 2-0 and you play so well in the first half, it should have been a more comfortable evening.”
During the long-awaited debut of Isak, Robertson added: “I thought he was excellent. He didn’t really have a pre-season, had not had many matches since last season, but I thought, especially the first half, he was excellent.
“Of course he got tired and then it’s great to have a player like Hugo to stand up and both have so much quality.”
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