YOU really have to spare a thought for Caoimhin Kellehe – he must be the only pi**ed off person under Arne Slot at Liverpool.
Despite helping his team storm to the top of the table in both England and Europe over the last two months, winning 10 games and drawing two, the Irish keeper was booted out of the team the moment No.1 keeper Alisson was fit.
Ex-Man Utd midfielder Donny van de Beek conceded the penalty[/caption]
Kelleher, who has made it known he wants to leave Merseyside, was forced to sit on the bench here in Catalonia and, predictably, watch Alisson prove why he is surely the best keeper in the world.
On a night when Slot’s team under-performed, Alisson proved there was no rustiness in his game with five key saves.
Slot’s surprisingly toothless attack was helped by VAR on the hour when it spotted that former Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek had stood on the heel of Luiz Diaz.
Mo Salah, who barely got a kick all night, delivered a textbook penalty meaning that of Liverpool’s last 23 goals, 20 of them have come in the second half.
Alisson has delivered some exceptional performances for Liverpool in the Champions League over the years.
He will never beat the stoppage time save from Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik in December 2018 which kept Liverpool in the Champions League – and they went on to beat Tottenham in the final.
But Alisson has proved that six years later, he has got even better and the only worry are his dodgy hamstrings.
There were also moments against the third best team in Spain last year when the 32-year-old was just as good with his feet, playing tight passes with his defenders and at one stage, delivering a brilliant chip over the head of an onrushing player.
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Despite Kelleher’s fine displays – his only blip was against Newcastle six days earlier – and Alisson was always going to be parachuted back into the team.
And he now finds himself back in a team that have still only lost once all season.
Four points clear in the Premier League and now looking certain to finish in the top eight of the Champions League.
This means they will miss the play-off round with two matches to be played in February.
Crucially, the second leg of the games will be played before Liverpool’s scheduled Prem trip away to Manchester City on February 23.
While Slot’s team will be able to put their feet up in that week, City – potentially – have a play-off game.
Nevertheless, it looks as though City are out of the title race and Liverpool will take some stopping in all competitions.
Slot also has the added bonus that he will be able to rest any players with aches and strains for the remaining group matches against Lille and PSV Eindhoven in January
But the Dutchman will be mildly concerned about the performance from his team.
In a crowd of around 10,000 – restricted as Uefa do not allow temporary seating – there were just 492 Liverpool fans .
To qualify with points, fans had to have been to 27 European away matches including Spartak Moscow in September 2017. Talk about dedication.
One player making his 235th Liverpool appearance was Joe Gomez and remarkably, he is still looking for his first goal.
He was denied the moment he must be dreaming of in the fourth minute when Paulo Gazzaniga, who had stints at Spurs and Southampton among others, showed good reactions to push a header over the bar.
Gazzaniga then kept out a well-hit drive from Darwin Nunez who was then guilty of wasting a couple of other chances in the first half, particularly one before the break. It was exactly the sort of performance from Nunez which makes him such a frustrating player.
The best chance of the first game – until the goal – came in Girona’s first attack.
Unfortunately for the home team, fell to Daley Blind although it will come as no surprise to Manchester United fans that he completely missed the ball from six yards.
Alisson saved the follow-up from Alejandro Frances and then threw out a desperate arm to avoid being beaten at his near post by Miguel Gutierrez.
The Brazilian kept out an effort from an offside-looking Bryan Gil but his finest moment came before the break when he used both his hands to keep out a decent strike from former Watford midfielder Yaser Asprilla.
Just seconds into the second half, Alisson was at it again, saving at his near post to keep out Arnaut Danjuma
Girona’s defence certainly had few problems dealing with the Liverpool attack who looked to have run out of ideas when Diaz fell to the ground after tangling with Van de Beek.
French referee Benoit Bastien told Diaz to get up as he thought it was a dive.
Yet after Andy Robertson’s shot had been saved for a corner, VAR checked over the clash.
Bastien was called over to the screen and did not take long before pointing to the spot and Salah stuck away the penalty by sending the keeper the wrong way
Liverpool avoided any late dramas for yet an 18th win in 21 matches for Slot.
When he landed on Merseyside, at no stage did he think it would be this easy.
