Slot: We Haven’t Proven We’re the Best in Europe Yet
Arne Slot, the coach of Liverpool, said it is too early to call his team the best in Europe ahead of their Champions League match against Lille on Tuesday.
Liverpool, who lead the English Premier League, beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday thanks to two injury-time goals by Darwin Núñez. After the match, Brentford coach Thomas Frank referred to Slot’s team as the best in the continent.
Slot commented on Frank’s remarks in a press conference: “I think it’s still too early to say things like that. We haven’t faced many teams yet. But it’s always nice to get praise from a coach who has proven his abilities in the Premier League.”
Liverpool leads the Champions League group with 18 points after winning all six of their matches, while Lille is in eighth place with 13 points, the last spot for direct qualification to the round of 16.
Slot added: “When we play a match, we want to win it. As the leader, you believe first place is the best, but the group stage is strange. Every week, I think even when facing a team lower in the standings, the match is the hardest (because you haven’t faced them before). You can’t judge the best right now based on the standings; we haven’t faced the same teams.”
Lille has gone 21 matches unbeaten in all competitions. Slot said he wasn’t surprised by Lille’s results, including wins over Atletico Madrid (3-1) and Real Madrid (1-0), but he was impressed.
He said: “Lille deserves every point… they drew with Juventus, beat Atletico Madrid and Real, and now they face us and my former team, Feyenoord. They’ve had tough matches, so I’m really impressed.”
