SoccerPreview

‘Nobody asks the players’: Alisson hits out at new Champions League format

Arne Slot unlikely to make many changes as Liverpool return to Europe’s top tournament in Milan

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker said players cannot be expected to keep producing their best form if they are tired from playing too many matches. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images
Jonathan Liew in Milan
Mon Sept 16 2024 - 21:02
Champions League: AC Milan v Liverpool,
San Siro, Tuesday, 8pm – Live on Premier Sports 1

On the eve of Liverpool’s return to the Champions League, their goalkeeper Alisson Becker has criticised the expanded format of the competition, claiming that players had not been consulted on adding two extra games to the group phase and that “maybe our opinion doesn’t matter”.

Liverpool begin their campaign for a seventh European Cup against AC Milan at San Siro on Tuesday night, and while Alisson admitted he was eager to play in the world’s leading club competition again after a season in the Europa League, he also sounded a warning for the future of the sport unless administrators start listening to players’ concerns over the schedule.

The 2024-25 Champions League is the first to be run under the “Swiss system”, which sees each club playing eight matches in a group phase that will not finish until late January. “I think for the supporters it’s amazing,” Alisson said. “More games, bigger games, big teams playing against each other. For us as players, it’s always a good idea to add some games to a calendar that is not busy. I am being ironic a little bit.

“Nobody asks the players what they think about adding more games, so maybe our opinion doesn’t matter. But everyone knows what we think about having more games. Everybody is tired of that. But we have to stay focused on the big challenge that we have tomorrow.”

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The Brazilian missed large parts of last season due to injury, but in previous seasons has played more than 60 games when international commitments and preseason tours are taken into account. Asked to suggest a more appropriate workload, Alisson declined to offer a figure, but argued that competition organisers had a duty of care to the stars of the spectacle.

“We understand we have the media side, the TV. We have Uefa, Fifa, the Premier League, the domestic competitions. We are not stupid, we understand that people want more games. But the reasonable thing would be for all the people responsible for organising the calendar to sit together and listen to all the parts, including the players. We just need to be listened to, and understand the thinking behind the direction that football wants to go. Not only adding games, adding competitions, adding this, adding that.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker during training before Tuesday's Champions League meeting with AC Milan. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

“At the end, all we want is to give our best. If you are tired, you cannot compete at a high level. What I want is to give the best in all the games that I play. But we need a solution, and it doesn’t look like we are close to a good solution for football’s sake and the players’ sake.”

Arne Slot, by contrast, was prepared to withhold judgement on the competition changes until he had seen how they worked in practice. And in any case, the Liverpool coach has more pressing concerns to deal with. The game in Milan comes just three days after the abject 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, a game from which the Dutchman was determined to learn the right lessons.

“If you’re not disappointed if you lose a home game against Nottingham Forest, then something is wrong,” Slot said. “But there were still things that went quite well. I expect a totally different kind of game against Milan.” He also rejected the suggestion that a lack of rotation was not the reason for Saturday’s defeat. “Everyone can have his own opinion. But too many players didn’t reach their normal level, not only the ones who started but the ones who came in. That has nothing to do with rotation.”

And Slot is likely to keep changes to a minimum. Federico Chiesa is in line for his first competitive minutes in a Liverpool shirt on his first return to Italy since signing from Juventus in the summer. But Slot warned that the winger was still not ready to play a full 90 minutes.