OPINION
Liverpool and Istanbul certainly go hand-in-hand, and Wednesday was no different.
After their incredible Champions League success against AC Milan in 2005, Liverpool returned to Turkey on Wednesday and secured the UEFA Super Cup after beating Chelsea on penalties.
The Reds appeared to get through the game unscathed, with many of their marquee players completing the majority of the game to great effect.
Sadio Mane scored two goals in the game which was in first start of the season, whilst Virgil Van Dijk was his usual self when completing the full 120 minutes.
Their former side Southampton are their next opponents on Saturday, and Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed to Sky Sports that he is “happy” the game went to extra time.
“I heard the message from Jurgen that he thought we would celebrate, I was happy that they were playing longer – I was happy, but mostly because of the reason I have more pictures to show my players,” he admitted.
Hasenhuttl and Southampton are surely clutching at straws ahead of their first home game of the season, with Liverpool definitely ready to go out and put on a show at St Mary’s.
Jurgen Klopp has instilled the same style and philosophy into his side for many years now, and if Hasenhuttl is all of a sudden happy that he has thirty extra minutes of footage to show his team then he can’t have much confidence.
The German likes his side to keep possession and utilise their full-backs with overlapping runs to create two extra options going forward. This is on top of the constant pressure created in midfield which allows Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah to capitalise on space in the attacking third.
That game plan hasn’t changed for two years, and Hasenhuttl will certainly be hoping that the extra-time on Wednesday will help tire the Reds, with his reasoning behind having extra footage surely a cover-up.
Southampton are clutching at straws before the game has even started, with Liverpool more than ready for their clash on Saturday after having three days to recover.
