Liverpool recovered from a disastrous start to beat AC Milan and make a perfect start to their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 win at the San Siro.
Christian Pulisic capitalised on some terrible defending to put the visitors in front inside three minutes, further adding to a red-hot atmosphere and asking more questions of Liverpool, three days on from their surprise defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The answers were emphatic, as Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk powered in headers from set-pieces before half-time to turn the match around, and Dominik Szoboszlai then gave Liverpool real control in the second-half.
It was a perfect start for the Reds as they attempt to finish the new league phase of the competition in the top eight, and in doing so avoid an extra knockout tie after Christmas. Liverpool next host Bologna in the Champions League, before tricky tests against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen.
Arne Slot made two changes to his Liverpool side in Milan, with Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo replacing Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz on the left wing, and it was that side of the pitch that brought the problems for a very early goal.
Tsimikas charged up the pitch to try and intercept Mike Maignan’s long ball forward, didn’t win the ball and in failing to do so left an alarming amount of space behind him. Alvaro Morata played Pulisic through, he was too quick to catch and finished well into the far corner.
That, as it transpired, was as good as it got for Milan in the first-half, and indeed the match. Liverpool settled well and were unlucky not to equalise through Mohamed Salah, who lashed an effort off the underside of the bar from a tight angle.
The leveller did come, midway through the half, as Trent Alexander-Arnold clipped a free-kick into the six-yard box and Konate rose highest to head home.
Diogo Jota missed a big chance to immediately add a second for Liverpool, before Salah again found the bar in his way after swivelling sharply in the box. It was one-way traffic, and Liverpool deservedly took the lead in familiar fashion.
Milan again made a real mess of defending a set-piece and with Maignan, who twice needed treatment for injury in the first-half, rooted to his line, Van Dijk joined his centre-back partner on the scoresheet with a header of his own five minutes before the break.
A scrappy start to the second period was not helped by a lengthy delay shortly after half-time as Maigan again went down having smothered an effort from Jota, and this time he was forced to accept defeat and come off.
Liverpool remained much the better and side and with just over 20 minutes to go, they finally got the third goal to show for it. Gakpo skipped into the box and his cut-back picked out Szoboszlai, who cushioned the ball into the empty net.
That took the sting out of the match and allowed Liverpool to ease towards the finish line with minimal stress for Slot. It proved to be a successful Italian job on his 46th birthday, with the travelling fans’ night capped in the stoppage-time with a debut off the bench for Federico Chiesa.
