LIVERPOOL: Jude Bellingham said Real Madrid were beaten by “the best-performing team in Europe” as Liverpool’s dismantling of the Spanish giants set a new bar in Arne Slot’s stunning start at Anfield.
Beleaguered Manchester City are next to run the gauntlet against the rampant Reds on Sunday as Liverpool sense the opportunity to land a knockout blow to Pep Guardiola’s men in the Premier League title race.
Slot has won 17 and drawn one of his 19 matches in all competitions since replacing a legendary figure in Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool enjoy a commanding eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League and have one foot in the last 16 of the Champions League as the only side in the competition with a perfect record from five games.
Overcoming the might of Madrid was the sweetest one so far as Slott did what Klopp could not do during his glorious reign in leaving the kings of the Champions League with a bloodied nose.
Liverpool had not won in the previous eight meetings between the clubs, including defeats in the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals.
“You know how special it is to play against a club that won this Champions League so many times, are the reigning champions and were a pain in the ass for Liverpool many times as well,” said Slot.
“We are happy where we are but we are not getting carried away by only winning in a group-stage game. This club wants more than only winning group-stage games.”
Slot described the visits of Madrid and City within the space of five days as an “incredible week.”
Halfway through they remain unscathed and are big favorites to take a huge step toward just a second league title in 35 years on Sunday.
Even at their strongest under Guardiola, City have not won in front of an Anfield crowd since 2003.
This version of the English champions is winless in six games and suffering from an existential crisis of confidence.
City blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord on Tuesday on the back of Guardiola’s first ever five-game losing streak as a coach.
Liverpool have often been the victim of City’s relentless consistency in the Guardiola era.
Twice Klopp’s sides finished second by the finest of margins despite amassing 97 points in 2018/19 and 92 three years later.
Now they have the chance to open up an 11-point lead that even Guardiola has conceded would be too much for his side to bridge.
“Man City is Man City. They have a bad time now but they have great players,” said Liverpool’s top goalscorer Mohamed Salah.
“We have a game against them so hopefully, we win it and go 11 points clear.”
In stark contrast to Manchester United’s struggles after the departure of Alex Ferguson, Liverpool have thrived despite the loss of a much-loved and charismatic leader in Klopp.
The German explained that part of his reasoning for stepping down when he did was that he was leaving the club in a good place.
Liverpool were on course for a quadruple deep into last season before faltering in the final months of the campaign as injuries and fatigue took hold.
But Klopp had helped rebuild a team in his final year that Slot is now bearing the fruits of.
Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo scored the goals against Madrid, neither of which were part of Klopp’s major glories in winning the Champions League and Premier League in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Slot also credited the club’s academy for adding depth to his squad after Caoimhin Kelleher and Conor Bradley shone against Madrid to mitigate the loss of Alisson Becker and Trent Alexander-Arnold to injury.
“We know that players that come in are really important to finish the games and if you want to win trophies, you need them,” said Mac Allister.
“Of course, you don’t want to be on the bench but we know that every guy here, when he comes in, does his best for the team.”
All three sides that have ever enjoyed an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League after 12 games went on to win the title.
On current form, Liverpool are an unstoppable force that an under-par City look incapable of handling.
