Alisson Becker has praised defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Trent Alexander-Arnold after both put in impressive performances in Liverpool’s victory over Benfica in Lisbon.
The Reds took a commanding lead of the tie by winning 3-1, controlling the majority of the game and only being prevented from scoring more by a selection of strong saves from Alisson’s Benfica counterpart Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Liverpool were two goals to the good at half-time after Sadio Mané doubled their lead following Konaté’s header, which was the Frenchman’s first goal for the club since joining from RB Leipzig last summer.
Despite Konaté’s slip early in the second-half allowing Uruguayan forward Dariwn Nunez to score for Benfica, Alisson was full of praise for both his quality and personality.
‘[Konaté’s first goal] is really important for us,’ the Brazilian told . ‘He’s a young player, a big talent with a lot of qualities. He is a good defender, a top guy and a really nice person as well. I’m happy to have him on the team and we can count on him as well to score goals.’
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, showed off his excellent range of passing with some pristine long balls which created goalscoring opportunities for Jurgen Klopp’s side, including one which began the move for Mané’s goal.
Alisson lauded that goal as ‘amazing’ and was full of praise for Alexander-Arnold’s contribution to it.
‘Sometimes it looks as if he has got eyes on his back!’, Becker exclaimed. ‘He just gets the ball and puts it there. The diagonal ball for Luis was amazing, then the decision Luis had to give Sadio the ball – it was an amazing goal. Everyone can score in the team, that is good for us and we keep on going and get ready for the next one.’
Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup this season, and will play Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley. They are just one point behind Pep Guardiola’s side with eight games remaining in the Premier League, and will face either Bayern Munich or Villarreal in the semi-finals of the Champions League if they progress.
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