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Xabi Alonso highlights six Liverpool stars to look out for but omits Mo Salah before Bayer Leverkusen clash
While Arne Slot can still rely on the game-breaking talents of Mo Salah, Xabi Alonso preferred to highight the depth of this Liverpool squad in his pre-Champions League press conference
Ahead of the Spaniard’s emotional return to Anfield on Tuesday night – only a few months after Xabi Alonso emerged initially as Liverpool’s first-choice Jurgen Klopp replacement – the man who ended Bayer Leverkusen’s long wait for a Bundesliga title insists that this is a Reds squad with serious strength in reserve rather than one beholden to Salah’s enduring brilliance.
The Egyptian may have fired home the winner as Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
But this was yet another game in which some of Slot’s lesser-heralded talents stepped up.
Caoimhin Kelleher was outstanding again in the absence of Alisson Becker. Kostas Tsimikas impressed with Andy Robertson out of form and out of the starting XI.
Curtis Jones made a huge impact off the bench too, while Cody Gakpo maintained his best run of form in a Liverpool shirt as he cancelled out Ferdi Kadioglu’s thumping first-half opener.
After Gakpo scored an ‘unbelievable’ strike against Brighton in the Carabao Cup a few days earlier, here he was haunting Fabian Hurzeler again.
Xabi Alonso highlights Cody Gakpo and co as he discusses Liverpool depth
“Liverpool are intense, with a good midfield balance,” Alonso said, speaking to reporters ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League matchday four tie on the red side of Stanley Park. “Having this good mix is important in the Champions League.
“Gakpo, [Luis] Diaz, Tsimikas, Robertson, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister… [Liverpool have] a competitive mentality.
“A big [game] with great players from both sides. From Liverpool and from us as well. Really looking forward to that.
“For us, it’s a big challenge to come here. Probably Liverpool, at the moment, are one of the best – if not the best – teams in Europe. They are showing that in the Champions League, they are showing that in a very, very strong Premier League.
A good squad, a good coach. Playing at Anfield is a big challenge but I think all of us are looking forward to it, for sure the players, and let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Liverpool have a 100 per cent record in the Champions League thus far. After beating AC Milan 3-1 win at San Siro, Slot’s near-faultless side claimed maximum points against Bologna and Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig.
“Bayer Leverkusen are a side which has the ability to hurt any opponent,” Slot says during his own pre-match presser. “So we have to be ready for this reality and face up to it with as much energy, quality and intensity that we can produce.
“Everyone in football was impressed with what Leverkusen did last season. How could you not be? To become champions of Germany is a wonderful achievement in itself but to do so without losing a single game makes it even more remarkable.
“They also had to show all of the characteristics of champions. There were games in which they were dominant, games in which they were not at their best but still found a way, and games in which their quality was so high that it was impossible not to view them as one of the strongest teams in Europe.
“Of course, a lot of this is down to their head coach, Xabi Alonso. Someone who I know does not need any introduction to our supporters, who recall him with incredible fondness for what he did as a player at Liverpool.
“I was not a Liverpool supporter but I have always been a football fan and anyone from my generation who falls into this category would share this admiration.”