Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Brentford set up a mouthwatering top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City, but manager Jurgen Klopp is less than impressed with the lunchtime scheduling.
The Premier League’s resumption after the international break kicks off with City v Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium live on television in a Saturday lunchtime clash.
Klopp has been a long-time opponent of broadcast scheduling, particularly the 12.30pm slot, and he has aired his complaints again.
“OK, no-one can say at the moment, but how can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm?” he said.
“Is it the moment where the world pays the most to see a football game? I don’t know if that is the case, I really don’t.
“Honestly, the people making the decisions, they cannot feel football, it is just not possible.”
The logistics involved in getting players back from South America are well-drilled now and usually involve clubs liaising to charter a jet for all their players to return home together.
But a lunchtime kick-off requires extra planning to get them back as early as practically possible, which often involves extra work to get them into one airport at the same time.
“You have these two teams who have, all together, about 30 international players. They all come back on the same plane from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia,” said Klopp.
“One game, one plane, they all come back.”
Liverpool endured a couple of tricky moments at home to Brentford, but two goals from Mohamed Salah, taking him to 200 in English football, and one from Diogo Jota ensured Klopp’s side leapfrogged Arsenal into second place on goal difference.
In becoming the first Reds player to score in each of their first six home matches at the start of a season, Salah joined Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry in having scored or assisted in 15 consecutive Premier League home games.
“Exceptional, just exceptional player. Played a super game today and we all know how difficult it is against these tall centre-backs,” added Klopp.
“Two players around him, all these kinds of things, how often he kept the ball for us and we could play from there. That was super important and scoring two goals.
“We had so many good moments in the first half. We scored (through Darwin Nunez), but it was offside (twice), things like that, and then in that moment, the composure for the first goal is insane.
“There is no doubt when the ball is in that area in the end you see it on the scoresheet. So a pretty special player.”
Victory ensured the team headed off on international duty with a spring in their step after a difficult week which began with a draw at Luton and got worse with defeat in the Europa League to Toulouse.
But in extending their 100 percent home league record to six matches this season, having conceded just twice at Anfield in that time, Liverpool moved into pole position as City’s nearest challengers.
“Football is strange. If you would have asked me three days just about the feeling, not about what I know, I am not sure I would talk about the start (to their season),” said Klopp.
“But obviously you look at the game, the numbers, the results, most of the time it was OK or better.
“A point at Luton didn’t feel great, Tottenham, in the circumstances (a defeat after a controversial incorrect VAR decision) obviously didn’t feel great.
“It’s absolutely all right if we just don’t really think about it. Today it was about getting through the game and we did. The boys responded sensationally well.”
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was unhappy with a second-half challenge by Wataru Endo on Christian Norgaard which, on the basis of what has gone before this season, he felt VAR got wrong.
“I think this situation, back in the day, never would have been a red card, but in the football we are playing now, with the slow image you can see a clear foot on the leg, four bloody marks on Christian’s leg,” he said.
“There is definitely some contact with force.”
Kane believes Bayern can improve further after nine-goal Zagreb rout
Harry Kane insisted Bayern Munich have further room for improvement after scoring four goals in their record-breaking 9-2 Champions League rout of Dinamo Zagreb.
Kane netted four times – including three from the penalty spot – as records tumbled in the Bavarian giants' first European outing under new boss Vincent Kompany.
Tuesday's four-goal haul took Kane to 33 Champions League goals, surpassing Wayne Rooney (30) as the top-scoring Englishman in the history of the competition.
It was the 24th hat-trick of Kane's professional career for club and country, while he became the first player to ever score three penalties in a single European Cup/Champions League game.
Bayern, meanwhile, are the first team to ever score nine times in a Champions League match, with Real Madrid being the last side to do so in the old European Cup in 1990 (9-1 versus Wacker Innsbruck).
Kane, however, told DAZN there are areas in which Bayern must improve, having been joined on the scoresheet by Michael Olise (twice), Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka.
"It was an amazing game. The first half was really good, we took our chances," the England captain said.
"We didn't start the second half well and got caught from a couple of second balls. We'll have to learn from that.
"Today we got away with that bad start in the second half, but against top opposition we could get punished for that.
"But the reaction afterwards was really good. It's great to score all these goals."
The only blot on Bayern's victory – which took them to the top of the Champions League's new 36-team league table – came as Manuel Neuer was substituted at half-time.
The goalkeeper had earlier appeared to be in discomfort after colliding with Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic, but he played down concerns over his condition after the match.
Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone, Neuer said: "I collied there and I was a bit gone.
"Then I hit a few balls and the pain stabbed me in the thigh. But it's nothing serious, a small matter."
Inzaghi focused on revamped Champions League, not 2023 final 'rematch' with Man City
Simone Inzaghi is not treating Inter's Champions League opener at Manchester City on Wednesday as a rematch of last year's final.
The Scudetto winners were beaten 1-0 by Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final, as Rodri's finish in Istanbul proved the difference.
Inzaghi is adamant that changes to the Champions League format and the fact that there is much less riding on the result make it very different to their previous encounter.
"Tomorrow starts a new Champions League, that will be very different," the Inter head coach told a press conference on Tuesday.
"I re-watched [the final] a month ago when we were in training camp. I don't think it's a rematch because it's not a final, it's a group game in the new Champions League format."
Inzaghi was enthusiastic about the changes to the format, with clubs playing eight matches in a 36-team league phase instead of the previous group stage.
But he said he was also aware of the burden on players from the amount of games they will now play after Man City midfielder Rodri said players were on the verge of going on strike.
"We know that you play a lot and we coaches are aware of that. I can say that preparing these games for a coach is beautiful and exciting," Inzaghi added.
"I know there are problems, but we are counting on getting through. I will have to alternate as many players as possible, we are without [Federico] Dimarco and [Marko] Arnautovic, but we have been used to having a sometimes limited rotation for two years now."
Inzaghi added that he was pushing his team to be aggressive and determined despite City having not lost at home in the competition since 2018.
"We will need a lot of components to make a great match," he concluded.
AC Milan 1-3 Liverpool: Reds recover from early scare for winning start
Liverpool celebrated their return to the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over AC Milan at San Siro on Tuesday, overcoming a shaky start for a comfortable triumph.
The Reds got off to an awful start when Christian Pulisic finished Milan's deadly counter-attack in the third minute, aided by Liverpool's disorganised defending on their return to the competition after a year's absence.
Arne Slot's side turned things around, however, as Ibrahima Konate equalised in the 23rd minute when he leapt high above a crowd of defenders to head in Trent Alexander-Arnold's free kick.
Virgil van Dijk put Liverpool ahead after nodding home Kostas Tsimikas' corner prior to the break before Dominik Szoboszlai sealed victory in the 67th minute, slotting into the far corner from Cody Gakpo's cross after Milan gave up possession.
Slot's first Champions League game at the helm of Liverpool ended in deserved victory, and it was a terrific response from his team after their shock 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Defensive delight for Reds
With Konate and Van Dijk both on target, Liverpool had two defenders score in the same Champions League game for the first time.
It marked a fitting way for Van Dijk to celebrate a landmark appearance, becoming just the third Dutch player to score on his 50th outing in the competition, after Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay (both in 2005).
Alexander-Arnold's assist for Liverpool's equaliser was also his 80th for the Reds. Since his debut in October 2016, only Kevin De Bruyne (146) and team-mate Mohamed Salah (90) have provided more in all competitions among Premier League players.
Those defensive performances at the other end of the pitch helped Liverpool to a fifth win in their last six away games against Italian sides in all competitions (L1), having won just three of their first 14 such visits (D3 L8).
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