Arne Slott hugs former Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold on his return to Anfield after he was booed during Real Madrid’s defeat.
Arn Slott described Trent Alexander-Arnold as a “special human being” as he gave the former Liverpool defender a comforting hug following his enthusiastic welcome at Anfield.
Alexander-Arnold was loudly booed when he came on as a substitute for Real Madrid, with the home fans jeering at his every touch. And in the second half, the Kop happily sang Conor Bradley’s name after Alexis Mac Allister’s header gave Arn Slott’s side a deserved victory.
It was yet another nightmare night for Alexander-Arnold, who could barely step on the pitch for 14 minutes. And that led to Slott hugging the 27-year-old Scouser at the final whistle.
The Liverpool manager said: “It’s tough because he (Alexander-Arnold) lost. I said something like ‘Good luck’ to him. To be honest, I didn’t know exactly what I said. He was special to this club, he was special to me, and he’s a special person. So for me to hug him, I’ll do it every time I see him.”
But Slott was also quick to praise Alexander-Arnold’s successor, right-back Conor Bradley.
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“I told the players that Real Madrid have scored 26 goals in La Liga, with Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior contributing 24 goals in that time, so if we want to have any chance of winning, we have to defend well against those two…and Conor Bradley has done just that,” Slott said.
Liverpool are currently level with Real Madrid in the Champions League table with nine points after four games. And it was a result that pleased the Liverpool captain. Virgil van Dijk, standing next to Wayne Rooney, who recently accused him of not showing enough leadership, harshly criticized the pundits and praised his team’s performance.
The Liverpool captain said: “Even former players who played at the highest level had their difficult moments. In a chaotic world, you have to remain calm and look at the big picture. We had to be precise in everything we did. I think we executed our game plan perfectly.”
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