Star Salah and what this league phase means – 5 talking points from Liverpool 2-0 Bologna – Liverpool FC

Liverpool passed a difficult Bologna test, taking two wins out of two in the Champions League group stage.

Liverpool – Bologna 2-0

Champions League (2) | Anfield
October 2, 2024

Goals: Mac Allister 11', Salah 75'

Star man Salah again

No player has played more minutes for Liverpool under Arne Slot than Mohamed Salah.

While the other strikers are rotated or replaced regularly in the middle of the second half, Salah remains constant.

He has six goals and five assists in nine games so far this season and has already scored in all three competitions Liverpool have played in.

The goal against Bologna was his first in the Champions League, as the game in Milan was one of only two games in which he did not score or assist in the 2024/25 season.

The Egyptian finished the game with a total of three key passes, one of which provided the assist for the opening goal, perfectly placed in an area at the far post where both Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were waiting.

He could have had more because the positions he regularly found himself in and the threat he regularly posed were so great.

The rest of the team feels more capable and there is no lack of individual quality in this system, but Salah remains the star of choice, under Slot as well as under Jürgen Klopp.

Avoid the man marker

Bologna played with a high press and covered Liverpool high up when they had shots on goal.

This led to some problems for the Reds towards the end of the second half as they often found themselves stuck in their own half. Dan Ndoye and Kacper Urbanski had good chances for the guests during this time.

On a few occasions, Liverpool played this pressing on the strikers effectively, and Alisson played a particularly good pass across Bologna to Salah.

Some of it was reminiscent of Atalanta's game against Liverpool in the Europa League last season, in which the Italian side won 3-0 at Anfield and Klopp's Liverpool were eventually eliminated from the competition in the quarter-finals.

This game was a completely different affair as it didn't matter as much and against a team that wasn't as effective as Atalanta.

However, Liverpool have struggled in games like this before, but not this time as they came out in the second half and secured the win, without conceding a goal at that.

Nunez has no effect

Just when Liverpool could have used a centre-forward to maintain play and keep the ball amid intense man-marking defence, Nunez couldn't quite provide him.

The Uruguayan started his first game in Europe this season after being on the bench in Milan. He also only started one game in the league.

While this is an area that has seen more rotation than others so far in Slot's tenure, it is obvious that his preferred center forward is Diogo Jota.

An hour later, Jota replaced Nunez, who had not made the impression he or his manager would have liked.

It was a move that could have been predicted, but Nunez still has plenty of time to make an impact this season.

Alisson plays his role

Whether it was stopping shots or starting attacks, Alisson continued to show why he is one of the best between the posts.

Bologna had more shots overall than Liverpool and the Brazilian saved well from some of the more dangerous shots from Kacper Urbanski and Riccardo Orsolini. Meanwhile, only Virgil Dijk has had more touches of the ball than Alisson's 65.

There were a few shaky moments, as always happens when you play from the back like that, but Alisson never lets himself be fazed.

There's really no doubt about Liverpool's ability to play in this way, like many other teams, and a big part of that is down to the goalkeeper.

After greeting the Kop and chanting his name, the Liverpool goalkeeper immediately set off to give a television interview for TNT Sports.

His role on this team goes far beyond stopping shots, and he showed it once again.

What does that mean?

It's difficult to get into the first season of this new Champions League format as it feels like there's little at stake in these early games.

Liverpool now sit fifth out of 36 teams in this early table and are one of seven teams to have won both games so far.

Like the previous version of the Champions League, this phase of the league is all about getting the job done and qualifying. That's one thing we know.

It's about managing the squad accordingly and at the same time keeping up with the other title challengers in the league.

It remains to be seen how important the final games of this league phase will be and whether teams can afford to rest their players until then. But for now it's just a matter of winning every game and later finding out what it means, namely what Liverpool have been doing so far.