Arne Slot revealed his relief after an emphatic response from his Liverpool side to an early setback in a dominant win over AC Milan.
The Reds were behind inside three minutes at the San Siro in their opening Champions League clash as they were caught short defensively, allowing Christian Pulisic to run through and fire a low finish into the far corner.
With this match coming only a few days on from Liverpool’s first defeat under Slot, a surprise loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield, the sluggish start left them under real pressure, particularly as Virgil van Dijk had by that point already been forced into some last-ditch defending before an offside flag was raised.
Slot admitted he could not be sure how Liverpool would respond to those troubling early minutes, though the impressive nature of the comeback to win 3-1 left him to again rue the “unbelievable” defeat to Forest.
“I think that was the positive thing,” Slot told Amazon Prime after the match when asked about his side dealing with Pulisic’s strike.
“After losing on Saturday, which was quite a blow for us to be honest, and then to be 1-0 down after five minutes, and an early chance as well, although it was offside. You’re always wondering how the team reacts.
“I think we showed how good we can be on the ball. That’s what I said after the game, if you can play so good, it’s almost... maybe to use the word disgrace is too much, but it’s unbelievable that you lose to Forest at home if you can play this well today.”
Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk both scored with headers from set-pieces to put Liverpool in front at the break, before Dominik Szoboszlai struck midway through the second-half to effectively put the match to bed.
Liverpool next face Bologna at home and will hope to be on maximum points before they then turn their focus to a tricky run of matches against RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen.
The top eight teams after the competition’s league phase will go straight through to the last-16, and Van Dijk hailed Liverpool’s calmness in making the perfect start to their European campaign.
“It was very disappointing during the weekend in so many ways,” Van Dijk said.
“Especially the last part of that game, it was very frustrating to witness and to be part of. But we had a chance to put it right and I think we did.
“Shaky start with the goal that we conceded, everywhere we were late and they capitalised on it. But after that, the way we stayed calm and kept playing, kept looking for the solution, that was very good to see.”
