Arne Slot waited for Xabi Alonso in Anfield tunnel after nightmare Liverpool return

Arne Slot shared a few consoling words with Xabi Alonso after the former star suffered .

Alonso's German champions held the Reds for just over an hour on Merseyside before the hosts took the game away from them in the final half an hour to win 4-0.

Luis Diaz grabbed a hat-trick and scored his fourth goal in a week to leave Alonso floored, but the 2005 winner still heard his name sung by Liverpool fans in the closing stages of the match.

The loss was just Leverkusen's third in their last 69 matches under Alonso, but the Spaniard was magnanimous in defeat after the game.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

After Slot had conducted an interview with Amazon Prime Video following the match, the Dutchman bumped into the Spaniard when he made his way out for his own chat with the broadcaster.

The duo were seen sharing a lengthy chat, with Alonso able to accept his side's defeat with good grace.

"It can happen that you come to Anfield and lose," he said. "To lose 4-0 is not nice. They are a top, top team and they punished us. It was a pity we couldn't hold 1-0 for 15 to 20 minutes. They did it against , they did it against us.

"We were ready to come here and give our best. We did okay for some part but the game changed in 20 minutes. Liverpool are strong. We lacked some power and consistency. Defeat, accept it, congratulate Liverpool and move on.

"I will try to separate the game and the pain from the result to the feelings of coming back and having love. I'm really thankful to have that reception.

"It's early to tell but I can see that Liverpool have a very good balance, a very complete team. They work the 11 players and they have the power to hold a clean sheet which is important in the Champions League. In the , let's see. It's early to tell but it's looking good."

Earlier Slot, when asked about the increase in intensity from his side from the first half to the second, said: "I don't know if it was that much to do with intensity but we took more risk. They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted a half-tine and took the risk to play one v one all over. We had better chances in the first half and they weren't a goal threat.

"As much as this time, how good they are in Europe, sometimes a strong target man is better than someone a bit faster. Curtis Jones did an incredible pass and then you have someone with the pace of Lucho to finish it off. The pass was as good as the goal in my opinion.

"You don't look ahead as a manager at the next three months. You're always one game at a time. We've got Aston Villa on Saturday, another tough game."

and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our