Liverpool came from behind to defeat AC Milan 3-1 in their Champions League encounter played at the San Siro in Milan.
Arne Slot’s team responded well to Christian Pulisic’s third-minute goal and won courtesy to Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Fashion Week began in Milan on Tuesday, and the away team made all the elegant moves at the San Siro in a clash of European football royalty.
Liverpool and Milan have won 13 continental titles and beaten each other in Champions League finals, but the Reds were better and would have won more had Mohamed Salah not been denied twice in the first half.
“It was a great day to celebrate your birthday at a stadium like this, and then to win,” said Slot, who turned 46 on Tuesday, to Prime Video.
“I wouldn’t have said this after five minutes but it went quite well.”
After a shocking home loss to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool returned to form, while Milan battled under new coach Paulo Fonseca ahead of Sunday’s Milan derby.
Despite Fonseca’s efforts, fewer than 60,000 Milan fans attended their team’s highest-profile match of the new league season of Europe’s top club competition on Tuesday night.
Milan may play Italian champions Inter Milan, who play Manchester City on Wednesday, without France custodian Mike Maignan, who left with a knee injury early in the second half.
“It’s a difficult start for us and we have to change things,” Pulisic told Sky in Italy before looking for an immediate response against Inter at the weekend.
“Of course it (the derby) is a big match for us,” he said. “We need to turn things around. We have a big opportunity to do that.”
In the 51st minute, Maignan, who had already fallen twice in the first half, limped off after being clattered by Fikayo Tomori as he tried to stop Jota from extending Liverpool’s advantage.
Maignan was replaced by teenager Lorenzo Torriani, who watched in the 67th minute as Szoboszlai headed home Cody Gakpo’s cross after the Netherlands forward beat Strahinja Pavlovic.
Disappointed Milan fans began leaving before the final whistle, and a downpour of whistles, boos, and chants for their side to “show some balls” led to a well-deserved loss.
