After one of the most trying weeks of his Liverpool tenure, Arne Slot has precious respite.
The build-up to this Champions League tie at San Siro had been dominated by Mohamed Salah’s post-match outburst at Leeds United last Saturday, which cost him his place in the travelling squad and cast serious doubts over his Anfield future.
It also piled more pressure on Slot, who was already fretting over his future as head coach after Liverpool’s poor start to the season, but while this was far from a vintage European night, his team delivered a spirited, disciplined display against high-calibre opponents and ultimately edged victory thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty, awarded after a controversial VAR intervention.
We analyse the major talking points.
Has Slot had a bigger win at Liverpool?
Since arriving at Liverpool, head coach Arne Slot has never been under more scrutiny than he was tonight.
The pressure has been mounting for several months after a dreadful run of results, but that was cranked up further by Mohamed Salah’s extraordinary interview at Elland Road on Saturday.
Slot had plenty of huge victories last season as Liverpool cantered to the Premier League title, but given the past few days, this may prove to be the biggest of his reign.
Slot handled pre-match media duties well, and while Salah was posting a selfie as he trained alone at the training ground, the Dutchman was putting together a tactical game plan to try to at least extend their unbeaten run to four games.
Arne Slot is under intense scrutiny (Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images)
Any questions about whether he has lost the dressing room were largely extinguished as his side delivered a well-drilled, mature European away performance, full of commitment and desire against an inform Inter side that were beaten finalists in the competition last season.
Slot continued with his more cautious approach to make Liverpool tougher to beat, using the 4-4-2 diamond and flooding central areas. It allowed Liverpool to control large portions and limited the home side to a handful of chances.
They were rewarded when a late penalty won by Florian Wirtz was converted by Dominik Szoboszlai, who took on the responsibility with Salah absent.
There were no big celebrations from Slot after the goal or at full time. The pressure remains and problems still need to be solved, but this felt like a big step in the right direction.
Andy Jones
Should Liverpool’s penalty have been awarded?
Refereeing decisions are simply different in European competition compared with domestic leagues. After the controversy of Liverpool’s disallowed goal for handball in the first half, Arne Slot could have felt hard done by if the score had remained level.
However, a similarly baffling decision was made in the dying moments.
As Hugo Ekitike dinked the ball forward into a congested penalty area, Alessandro Bastoni and Florian Wirtz were closely contesting the aerial duel. The Italian headed it down, with Wirtz looking to pounce on the second ball before a brief tug on his shirt saw the 22-year-old go to ground — alerting the referee to a (very soft, by anyone’s standards) foul in the box.
A brief VAR review saw the referee point to the spot and hand Liverpool a late opportunity to snatch maximum points. With Mohamed Salah out of the squad, it was Dominik Szoboszlai who stepped up to take the spot-kick — dispatching it with the authority of a seasoned penalty taker under the pressure of a jeering home crowd.
Was the penalty deserved? Probably not. Will Slot care in any way? Not a chance.
Mark Carey
And should Konate’s ‘goal’ have stood?
Set pieces have dominated the story of Liverpool’s season so far, and it was the case again after Ibrahima Konate’s first-half header was ruled out.
For all their issues in the Premier League, Slot’s side have been much better at dead balls in Europe, scoring from corners against Atletico Madrid and Frankfurt (twice), as well as from a free kick against Real Madrid.
There could have been another to add to that tally in Milan, only for a VAR intervention to rule it out for a handball by Hugo Ekitike.
After a couple of poor deliveries, Dominik Szoboszlai’s 32nd-minute corner was deeper and both Virgil van Dijk and Ekitike attacked it. The ball deflected off Ekitike’s arm and looped up to Konate, who beat Yann Sommer to the ball and headed into the net with Lautaro Martinez unable to keep it out.
Inter immediately appealed for handball and the goal went to VAR. Further replays showed that Van Dijk actually won the initial header, with the ball cannoning from him straight onto Ekitike’s arm.
A goal can be awarded if the ball is played against your hand or arm by a team-mate, even if your arm is outstretched; the exception is if the handball is deemed to be a deliberate action.
It seemed impossible for Ekitike to get out of the way of Van Dijk’s header, given his proximity to the defender, but ultimately it is impossible to be sure whether it was intentional. The fact that the handball did redirect the ball into Konate’s path and that UEFA has a lower tolerance for handballs that lead to goals meant that an overturn was inevitable.
Eventually, referee Felix Zwayer was sent to the screen and ruled the goal out.
Andy Jones
Did Isak-Ekitike work in Salah’s absence?
With Mohamed Salah excluded and Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa absent due to injury and illness respectively, Arne Slot was left with little choice but to start his two strikers — Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike — for only the second time this season.
Due to a variety of reasons, the head coach has opted against pairing them together, but the clamour to see them both on the pitch has been growing.
While Liverpool believe Ektikie can play off the left, Slot decided to use a 4-4-2 diamond system with Alexis Mac Allister in the No 10 role and Florian Wirtz dropped to the bench. And while it was far from a free-flowing partnership, there were encouraging signs that the pair could cause problems for the opposition defence.
Ekitike was happy to drop deeper into pockets of space while Isak occupied Inter’s last line. The former was much brighter in the first half, with his hold-up play and ball-carrying causing problems.
Isak struggled to influence the game for large periods of the first half but was more involved in the second. He was more impactful when pressing, forcing a high turnover on one occasion before opting to shoot when others were better placed, but faded as the minutes wore on.
Slot’s decision to leave Salah out has led to a safety-first approach and that has impacted their attacking threat. That limited the influence both strikers could have, and there was little link-up between them (as shown in the pass matrix below), but it was never going to be easy at a difficult away trip in Europe.
For the opening 65 minutes, they were missing a creative No 10 behind them, but when Wirtz did appear off the bench, it was to replace Isak, who had once again been outshone by Ekitike.
The wait to see all three of them at the point of a diamond midfield goes on.
Andy Jones
How did Slot’s rejigged midfield perform?
Leading into the game, much of the Liverpool discussion was the pairing of Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike across the forward line.
However, the interesting consequence of that was Arne Slot’s ability to pack the midfield. Call it a diamond, call it a box, but Slot played with a midfield four of Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister — and the outcome was a net positive.
It was Mac Allister playing as the most advanced midfielder (as he did when he came on against Leeds last weekend) in Slot’s 4-4-2. Gravenberch and Jones conducted the midfield from deeper, with Szoboszlai drifting in from the right to provide energy in and out of possession.
Liverpool’s quartet rotated their positions well in possession, with Jones particularly impressive in dropping in and catalysing the attack with driving runs forward, piercing passes or quick feet in the final third.
Curtis Jones looked lively for Liverpool (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Out of possession, Szoboszlai would often drop into the last line to support Joe Gomez with Inter wing-back Federico Dimarco stretching Liverpool’s defence by staying high and close to the touchline when the home side were going forward.
Given Liverpool’s current situation, Slot’s side needed to have solidity. Overall, it was a streetwise away European performance — helped by the numbers they had in midfield.
Mark Carey
What did Slot say?
Liverpool’s head coach initially suggested Mohamed Salah needed to take the initiative in resolving his dispute with the club.
Asked by Clarence Seedorf, the former Netherlands international, on Prime Sport whether it was his intention to bring him back after making a mistake, Slot replied: “You say everyone makes mistakes in life, so the first thing should be, does the player think he’s made a mistake as well?
“I haven’t said I’m not going to talk to him. And the next question is should the initiative come from me or from him? Now that’s another question to answer.”
Later, when talking to reporters in the UEFA press conference, Slot moved to clarify his earlier comments by saying: “Clarence said that (Salah has to make the first move) in his opinion and I didn’t say who should make the first step. Tonight it should be all about the players that are here.”.
What next for Liverpool?
Saturday, December 13: Brighton & Hove Albion (Home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET
