Liverpool registered a crucial 3-2 victory against Atletico in an action-packed Champions League encounter.
Follow Us
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has labeled the three points secured against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League group match as “really important”. A late Mohamed Salah penalty – 12 minutes before time – secured the victory for the Reds in the Spanish capital. Liverpool raced into a two-goal lead by the 13th minute of the Group B tie, through Mohamed Salah’s deflected shot and Naby Keita’s incredible volley. However, Diego Simeone’s boys came back to level before the break thanks to a double from Antoine Griezmann. However, Griezmann was sent off for a high boot early in the second half. Salah then slotted home a penalty on 78 minutes to secure the three points for the Reds at the Estadio Metropolitano.
After being named UEFA Man of the Match for a number of vital saves throughout, Alisson, in his press conference, felt the team could still improve despite getting the victory. “It was exciting to play. These are the kind of matches that a top player wants to play, a top team wants to play. It’s always a tough place to come. I came here before twice and I lost both games,” he added.
“And today getting the victory here, three points is really important for me, for us and for the things that we want to achieve. We just need to focus a little bit more in the game because we know that we can improve. We did a really good match on Saturday but we can’t rely on the last game. We need to look at what we did good, what we didn’t do good, so we can improve as well.”
Alisson also heaped praise on Mohamed Salah, who has been on an impressive run of form this season. “I’m really happy for him, he’s a fantastic player. He’s showing on the pitch all the time, making really nice goals, not just easy goals. But he contributes a lot for the team as well – not only scoring but helping in the defensive phase, playing for the team. He is a hungry player, he’s a hungry striker. I’m really happy for him. I hope that he continues that,” he explained.
“About the penalty, I was quite sure that it was not a penalty. I have good vision from the moment and I went straight to the referee to tell him because sometimes the referee doesn’t have a good [view]. I think the VAR checked it really good, in a good way – this is my point of view. You have the images, you can know better and the referee made a good decision. It was not easy, there was a lot of pressure from the supporters, from the opponent as well but I think it was the right decision.”
On the long wait for the Atletico penalty to be overturned, Alisson said, “I just try to stay focused in the moment because I was quite sure that he would overturn the decision. But there was a chance that it still was a penalty, so I just try to stay focused and remember what I saw from the opponent to do the right choice in the penalty to try to save it. It’s not easy to wait long but when it’s a fair result, when it’s a fair decision, you are happy with this – even if it takes sometimes longer than the other times.”
