This time last year, Liverpool began their European campaign in the quiet town of Linz, the picturesque Austrian city on the banks of the River Danube and famous as the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.
Former manager Jürgen Klopp’s final year saw him collect passport stamps in Toulouse, Brussels, Prague and Bergamo, where they lost to Atalanta. Beautiful places to spend a Thursday, but hardly any of the celebrated destinations of European football.
Tonight, that will change when the Reds return to the biggest stage in one of the world’s greatest sporting stadiums – the San Siro.
Playing AC Milan today may not be as big a match as when these teams met in the 2005 and 2007 finals, but it is still a meeting between two of the main protagonists in the history of this competition, with 13 European Cups between them.
Liverpool are back where they belong and now it’s time for Arne Slot to prove that he deserves to be at this level too. Nottingham Forest ended the Dutchman’s honeymoon on Saturday, as he suffered his second league defeat at home to the Reds since October 2022.
Liverpool travel to the San Siro on Tuesday to face AC Milan on their return to the Champions League
The Reds are back to where they were before, but it’s time for Arne Slot to prove his worth at this level.
His European record is relatively solid. Slot, who turns 46 today, led Feyenoord to the Conference League final (losing to Jose Mourinho’s Roma) and won more European caps than anyone else in the Rotterdam club’s history. In the Champions League, he has so far failed to prove his worth.
Yet this competition is often the raison d’être for Liverpool managers. After a few years in the wilderness, Klopp brought glorious European nights back to Anfield, while Rafael Benitez’s continental exploits obscured a record of only once finishing higher than third in the Premier League.
A mediocre performance and result against Forest will quickly be put to rest if Slot succeeds at the San Siro. He said: “It’s an important game, not just for me but for us. Because of the history these two teams have and the place where it’s played.
‘We have a lot of respect for the players and Milan’s history. They have quality players, we are not afraid, but we respect all their players. They are in good form, they had a very good 4-0 win on Saturday. Fear is not the word.
‘It wasn’t just the journalists who were disappointed with the result against Forest, the team and I were disappointed too. When we beat United, the journalists and we were very positive. Last Saturday we didn’t do as many good things as we did against United.
A mediocre performance and result against Forest will quickly be cancelled out if Slot succeeds at the San Siro.
“I expect a completely different game against Milan tomorrow. We should be disappointed if we lose against Forest when you work for Liverpool. If you are not disappointed when you drop points in a home game against Nottingham Forest, then something is not right.”
Captain Virgil van Dijk is also excited to be back in Europe’s top flight. “I’ve missed it,” he said. “I can’t wait to be out there listening to the Champions League tune and leading the lads. A club like Liverpool needs to be in the Champions League.
“We’re finally back. Let’s go out and play a much better game than we did on Saturday, as we need to. Otherwise, we’re going to have a problem. I’m really looking forward to the game and I hope all our fans who are travelling there are really excited and make their voices heard.”
He added that Saturday’s defeat was “unacceptable” and that the team will work hard to make amends in Milan. “(We need to) keep going, keep working and make sure that performances don’t go in that direction.”
Slot says the match in Milan is important because of the great history between the two teams
“We all know how the atmosphere can change, but that’s also part of the external influence that can affect you. We have a very good group that really understands that Saturday was unacceptable and is disappointed. We all know that we can all do better.”
Van Dijk is not the only one excited about returning to the Champions League and Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson says he will appreciate it even more after a year in Europe’s second-tier competition.
The number one said: ‘Imagine something you really like doing and you don’t do it for a year, how eager you would be to do it again. That’s what we feel. Playing in the Champions League was one of the reasons I came to Europe from Brazil.
“Not being able to play last season was very tough, but here we are again after a very good season, qualifying in a very difficult league. We are really looking forward to the moment.”
Liverpool have no injury problems despite a tight battle with Forest on Saturday. Federico Chiesa has travelled to his homeland of Italy and is preparing to take up the reins for the first time since his £10m move from Juventus.
Alisson says he will appreciate the Champions League more after a year in the Europa League
When these two teams were competing in the European Cup finals in 2005 and 2007, Slot was playing for NAC Breda, a mid-table club in the Dutch league. Would it have occurred to him then that on his 46th birthday he would be coaching Liverpool at the San Siro?
He has defied the odds and consistently exceeded his expectations as a head coach to reach this level but, with Liverpool finally back where they belong in Europe’s top table, it is time for Slot to prove he belongs here too.