Biased? Arne Slot names five Liverpool stars in his all-time UCL XI

Arne Slot has named Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in his all-time Champions League XI, ahead of Andres Iniesta and Zinedine Zidane.

Although he never won the Premier League, Gerrard dragged Liverpool to incredible success against the odds in the Champions League.

The former England international notched 21 goals and 14 assists in 73 competitive appearances, as well as a further 9g/4a in 14 qualifiers, winning the 2005 final against AC Milan and finishing runners-up to the same opposition two years later after

This came at a time when the Liverpool team was a long way from the star-studded unit that Slot has inherited from Jurgen Klopp and Gerrard has long been regarded as the catalyst and reason for their success under Rafa Benitez.

In fact, many Liverpool fans consider Gerrard to be among the best players at the club. alongside Kenny Dalglish and Mohamed Salah.

Asked to pick his all-time Champions League XI for Amazon Prime, Slot explained his reasoning for picking Gerrard over Iniesta and Zidane.

“If you’d asked me a year ago, I probably would have said Iniesta, but now I think I’ll go for Steven Gerrard, being Liverpool manager!” said Slot (via This is Anfield).

“Why he could deserve to be in my team is that the others, like Iniesta, like Zidane, played with incredible teammates, and of course Steven Gerrard played with good or very good teammates, but I don’t think he played. with the same level of players.

“So it still feels so special to the club, to lift the trophy once, to play so long for this club, it meant a lot to that.”

Arne Slot picks four current Liverpool players in UCL XI

Whether it was prejudice, fear of angering his new fans or simply being impressed by the players he has inherited, Slot chose no less than four current Liverpool players for his combined XI.

Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson is between the posts, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk lining up in defense alongside Barcelona great Gerard Piqué and Dutch legend Frank de Boer.

Sergio Busquets and Luka Modric lead the midfield alongside Gerrard, while there is a fearsome front three with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and, of course, Mohamed Salah.

This was Slot’s reasoning for his four current Liverpool stars, who each helped the Reds win the 2019 title:

• To Alison: “Now I work with him, but he was also very important when they won the Champions League a few years ago. Having worked with him, I see how special he is and how many big saves he has already made. He’s been excellent for Liverpool all these years, it’s an easy choice for me to go for Alisson.”
• About Alexander-Arnold: “I’m going for Trent in the right-back position, for obvious reasons. I think he’s been so special to Liverpool all these years, from the academy to winning the Champions League at this club.”
• To Van Dijk: “Virgili has to be there. He’s had a lot of impact at this club. I think when he and Alisson came in it was the last step the team had to take. An impressive centre-back, very good in the air, He has all the attributes a center should have. So he’s there for sure.”
• False: “For me, it’s clear that Mo Salah should come in. Eight or nine years at such a high level in the recent history of this club, he has scored so many goals. It has been very special for this club.”