Arne Slot has no hair left to lose but the man celebrating his 47th birthday might have been left feeling a few years older as his Liverpool team put him through the wringer again.
In the end, however, Liverpool were able to make it many happy returns for their head coach – but not before another dose of late drama that has characterised their winning start to this season.
The old cliche that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead in football is being given new meaning by Liverpool, who have lost this advantage twice in the Premier League this season – to Bournemouth and Newcastle United – and did so again against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
On each occasion, however, Liverpool have pulled back from the brink to win.
Such is the sheer force of will in Slot’s side, as well as the power of Anfield on Champions League nights, that there was almost an inevitability about Virgil van Dijk’s towering header deep into stoppage time that enabled Liverpool to open their Champions League with victory.
The Dutchman’s 93rd-minute winner was the fourth goal Liverpool have scored in the 90th minute or later across all competitions this season, with six of their eight second-half goals this season being scored from the 88th minute onwards.
Slot was able to celebrate wildly in his technical area once more, as he has done as Liverpool have won all their games this season in the last 10 minutes and into stoppage time, but even in triumph he must wish that Liverpool would not leave him and their fans knee-deep in chewed fingernails before they can celebrate.
Even Liverpool, for all their attacking prowess, will not be able to perform this trick every time. Their carelessness will be a concern for Slot, even if they have shown five times this season that they have what it takes to pull themselves out of trouble.
“A game like this should not have gone to a late winner,” Slot said.
“I understand that’s the story of this game and the last five games, but for me it is a different game than the ones we played before. We had so many great attacks today where we could have scored the third goal.”
