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Liverpool made their sixth Champions League game of the season difficult, needing it Mohamed Salah’s penalty for Girona’s pass on Tuesday.
The Reds did enough to win the game, but they certainly didn’t dominate Girona, who went shot for shot with Arne Slott’s side and could easily become only the second team to score against Liverpool in Europe this year.
That leaky defense, however, provided the spotlight for the returning Alisson, who fired back lively in the Liverpool goal.
How the match unfolded
Joe Gomez had Liverpool’s first chance of the night after just four minutes. He rose highest from the corner and sent a header towards Paul Gazzaniga, who reacted well and put the shot over the goal.
Gazzaniga should have saved Darwin Nunez’s fierce strike soon after, before Girona should perhaps have opened the scoring. Daley Blind found himself alone in the penalty area and had a shot, only to miss the ball completely, and just moments later, Bryan Gil was sent charging towards goal but lost his footing in a one-on-one with the returning Alisson.
Those moments revived Girona, and the hosts enjoyed some great moments down the left, with Miguel Gutierrez and Arnaut Danjum causing Gomez all sorts of problems.
After an open 20 minutes that saw plenty of half-chances for both teams, Nunez again frustrated Gazzaniga from close range, before Yaser Asprilla’s shot from outside the box should have been acrobatically saved by Alisson.
Liverpool finished the first half with 61% of the possession, but did not control the situation at all, and Girona led when it comes to shots on goal (4) and expected goals (0.8).
Girona did not slow down after the restart, and Danjuma spurned two good chances within four minutes. First, he fired straight at Alisson, then, after a great piece of footwork to beat Gomez, completely reduced his effort.
After an hour, Liverpool got the break they needed when a VAR review saw them awarded a penalty. Luis Diaz tripped Donny van de Beek and Salah stepped up to score his 50th Champions League goal.
Girona’s composure vanished after the goal, but the La Liga side continued to offer plenty of threat on the counter, although Liverpool controlled the finish to see out a sixth straight Champions League win.
After a long break due to injury, Alisson returned to Liverpool starting line-up at the expense of Caoimhin Kelleher, who dropped to the bench.
The Brazil international was probably expecting a quiet night, but he definitely had to be at his best here, with Liverpool’s porous defense forcing him into action time and time again. Danjuma and Asprilla got the best out of Alisson in a spirited affair.
While questions need to be asked about Liverpool’s backline, there will be no concerns about Alisson’s rustiness.
Here, once again, the question of the best position of Trent Alexander-Arnold was raised. He entered the team list as a right back, but started the game in the role of reverse midfield, which caused various problems for his team.
Joe Gomez was isolated in defense as Girona clearly targeted the area as a weakness, doubling up and spraying the ball that way at every turn. In attack, Alexander-Arnold’s presence contributed to a crowded midfield and, along with Mohamed Salah’s freedom to roam, left Liverpool with no outlet on the right.
Slot changed things in the first half when Girona threatened to run away with proceedings, ordering Alexander-Arnold to stay deeper and wider. A wise move by the boss, who will now fear that other rivals may have come up with their own plan to fight Alexander-Arnold.
Look, this wasn’t a bad game from Liverpool. They are a good team that probably he deserved to win, but the fact that he is even debating is cause for concern.
Girona are mid-table in La Liga having lost four of their first five games in this season’s Champions League, yet they came up against what most would describe as the best team in Europe at the moment.
Had they not benefited from a handful of damaged shots, unfortunate tackles and VAR decisions, Liverpool could easily have lost here. Slot must figure out what went wrong before they return for the Premier League game against Fulham at the weekend.
