Arne Slot hailed Liverpool’s 2-0 UCL win over Real Madrid, saying the Spanish giants were “pain in the ass” for the Reds.
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Real Madrid a “pain in the ass” for Liverpool
Liverpool’s win against Madrid officially ended their 15-year winless run against the reigning European champions in the Champions League.
Second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo put Slot’s side two points clear of second-placed Inter Milan.
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Champions League as well.
The Reds failed to beat Madrid in their last six meetings, including Champions League finals in 2018 and 2022.
Slot said it was important to finally beat the 15-time Champions League winners, who they consider a “pain in the ass.”
“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times,” Slot said. “They were a pain in the ass for Liverpool for many years too. It is a big week and it is pleasing to see.”
“I think it is always good to win a game and especially a big game like this, you know you face so many quality players.”
“But this is such a strange and different set up in the Champions League and it is difficult to judge how important these wins are.”
“If we meet them [Madrid] in the last 16 and then we are able to beat them it would be a bigger statement.”
Still not complacent
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted that Liverpool deserved the victory, as his side created a number of clear chances.
“To be honest, it’s the right result,” Ancelotti said. “Liverpool deserved to win, they’re in good form. We did well in the first half, our plan went well. … The team competed until the penalty.”
Although Mohamed Salah missed his penalty kick, Madrid star Kylian Mbappe failed to equalize with a spot kick of his own.
Despite nearing the round of 16, Slot insists it’s too early to say if Liverpool have secured qualification.
“I didn’t have schedule in terms of amount of points I wanted,” he said. “You want to implement the playing style as soon as possible. That is not difficult because it wasn’t that different to Jürgen’s [Klopp, his predecessor]. It is great to see not only the starters but the players coming on are doing as we expect.”
“If before the season I had counted points for this point in the season I wouldn’t have done as much as we have now.”
