Liverpool maintained their perfect Champions League record with a 1-0 win over Girona – but not everyone impressed for the high-flying Reds.
Arne Slot’s side, also top of the Premier League, are all but through to the knockout stages of the Champions League after beating Girona in Catalonia.
Liverpool huffed and puffed against a team sitting ninth in La Liga and had returning goalkeeper Alisson Becker to thank as the Brazilian made a number of saves to deny the hosts.
The decisive moment came just after the hour mark as Luis Diaz was caught by former Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek, giving Mohamed Salah the chance to break the deadlock from the penalty spot.
Salah, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract at Anfield, made no mistake to net his 46th Champions League goal.
Sitting top of the revamped Champions League, Liverpool only need a point from their final two fixtures to guarantee a top-eight finish and qualify for the last-16 stage.
While Liverpool continued their winning run, Slot admitted he was ‘far from pleased about the performance’ and some fans singled out struggling forward Darwin Nunez for criticism.
Nunez, whose 2022 move from Benfica could end up costing Liverpool up to £85m, missed two good first-half chances to score before being subbed off in the second half.
‘As much as I love Darwin Nunez, we were scammed big time. Sorry lad, you have been s***,’ one fan wrote, while another added: ‘Benfica scammed us so bad with Nunez.’
Asked for his verdict on Nunez’s performance, Liverpool boss Slot said: ‘What I can agree on is that he missed a few chances.
‘Then it’s always the question: does this have anything to do with low confidence or is this a situation where he’s in at the moment?
‘I think every striker all around the world has periods where every ball goes in, and sometimes he has a period where you try so hard but you’re not able to score.
‘The good thing is that we have many players that can score for us – today Mo again. I would have loved to see Darwin score because I think every striker wants to score [and] needs goals – that’s why I kept him in for quite a long time.
‘He was a threat but unfortunately he couldn’t score.’
After Nunez missed one of his chances, ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock said: ‘What is that from Darwin Nunez?
‘That is Darwin Nunez to a tee. That is so disappointing because it was a great break. He has to score.’
Slot also heaped praise on Alisson for his impressive performance upon his return to the team following an injury lay-off.
‘I said a bit of a joke that maybe the players wanted to see how fit he really was, so to give him so much work,’ he said.
‘But, of course, that was not our plan. He showed again today why I said so many times that he’s our first goalkeeper.
‘That has nothing to do with Caoimhin [Kelleher] – he did so, so well. But Alisson has been so important for this club for so many years, for his country as well.
‘[He] showed today that he’s probably one of the best, in my opinion the best goalkeeper in the world.
‘And let’s hope he can keep continuing to bring these performances. Let’s hope even more that he can stay fit.’
Since joining Liverpool in June 2022, Nunez has scored 36 goals in 115 appearances.
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