Xabi Alonso admitted he was grateful for the warm welcome he received from Liverpool fans at Anfield on Tuesday night and will try to “separate” that memory from being beaten.
Alonso hadn’t faced Liverpool in more than 15 years since his departure from the club until taking his Bayer Leverkusen side to Merseyside in the Champions League this week.
The Spaniard had been a contender to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss. But he opted to remain loyal to Leverkusen, which saw the gig soon go to Arne Slot instead.
A positive reception was to be expected from the Liverpool fans who worshipped Alonso as a deep-lying play-maker during five seasons as a player between 2004 and 2009. But, ever the professional, he refused to let emotion cloud his bitter disappointment at losing so heavily.
“The result is painful. The performance is more painful,” Alonso reflected.
“We lacked some power and consistency. Defeat, accept it, congratulate Liverpool and move on. I will try to separate the pain from the result from the feelings of coming back and having love. I’m really thankful to have that reception.”
For Slot, the result was a 14th victory in only his 16th game in charge, which gives him the best record among all new Premier League manager across all competitions, bettering the 13 wins from 16 matches achieved by Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea in 2004 and 2009 respectively.
