'His team-mates wanted to make sure he was really fit!' - Arne Slot jokes Liverpool's poor performance at Girona was to test returning goalkeeper Alisson

Liverpool continued their perfect run in the first stage of the Champions League, narrowly defeating Girona 1-0 on Tuesday night. The Reds secured their sixth consecutive victory in the competition, thanks to Mohamed Salah’s penalty in the second half, but the performance fell well short of Slot's expectations.

Slot reinstated Alisson to the starting lineup, with the Brazilian having recently recovered from a hamstring injury that he suffered during Liverpool’s 1-0 over Crystal Palace at the start of October. Alisson repaid the trust shown in him, pulling off a series of spectacular saves to keep Girona at bay. Slot acknowledged Alisson's crucial contributions, labelling him the "best goalkeeper in the world" during his post-match interview with TNT Sports.

When asked about his thoughts on Alisson, Slot said: "Yeah maybe his teammates wanted to be sure he was really fit and to give him a lot of work. No, of course, that’s not the idea, but he showed today and I don’t think anybody needed him to show it today because I think everyone knows he’s the best goalkeeper in the world. He showed today that he definitely is this because he was so important for us with so many saves.”

However, the manager minced no words to express his disappointment with the performance, adding: "I was happy with the result, let that be clear, but the performance was not of our standards. You have to give credit to Girona as well, they made it really difficult for every team that has played here in the Champions League with the exception of PSV Eindhoven. Girona had numerous good chances and we had to thank Alisson that we kept a clean sheet. Our standards have to go up if we want to achieve something in this competition. Although [Girona] have a very good game idea and a very good idea about football, there will be [opponents] that are even better than this and if you come up with the [lack of] intensity we had today, on another day you concede two or three goals.”

Liverpool will now turn their attention to domestic commitments and a clash with Fulham at Anfield on Saturday in what promises to be a critical Premier League encounter. Fans will hope that Alisson is not called upon to make as many crucial saves against the Cottagers as Liverpool continue their push for the league title.