Liverpool almost qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after Mohamed Salah’s VAR-awarded penalty secured a narrow 1-0 win over Girona at the Municipal de Montilivi.

The result means Liverpool have won the first six games of a European season for the second time in the club’s history. In Liverpool’s last game against Newcastle, Arne Slot’s side remained winless for the third time in 21 games under the Dutchman.

When they arrived in Girona they knew that another win would bring them even closer to a place in the round of 16 draw as one of the seeded teams. They consolidated their position at the top of the table after Donny van de Beek was penalized for a foul on Luis Diaz in the penalty area after VAR intervened.

Salah kept his composure and converted his penalty past Paulo Gazzaniga to keep Liverpool perfect.

The Egypt international became the 11th man to score 50 Champions League goals, overtaking Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kylian Mbappe, while Thierry Henry (51) and Thomas Müller (54) were now in his sights.

After missing the penalty spot against Real Madrid two weeks ago, there was no mistake this time as he was given the opportunity in the 63rd minute to extend his impressive scoring tally in 11 of his last 16 games.

Up until that point, the Premier League leaders had put in a somewhat labored performance, with Alisson making good saves from Bryan Gil and Arnaut Danjuma on his return to the team.

Twenty of Liverpool’s last 23 goals have now come after the break and they may already have enough points to guarantee a place in the top eight – depending on other results in Gameweek 6.

Slot’s side return to European action in January at home to Lille, where they can mathematically secure a last-16 draw against a side who have come through the play-offs.

Meanwhile, Girona are at risk of elimination after their fifth defeat in their first six games.

Why Alisson’s return is important

This result gives Slot the luxury of rotation in Liverpool’s final two league stage games. Don’t underestimate the benefit of this as they try to fight on all fronts.

Former Southampton and Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu admitted Girona had to be at their best to upset Liverpool – and the hosts created several opportunities for a shock win.

Brazil international Alisson helped the Reds to their fifth consecutive clean sheet in the competition, something they last achieved in 2005. The 32-year-old has been sidelined since October with a thigh injury, causing him to miss eleven games.

In his absence, Caoimhin Kelleher kept five clean sheets, including against Real Madrid and Manchester City, but made his first real mistake in Newcastle on Wednesday when his late misjudgment allowed the hosts a 3-3 draw.

But Alisson has this special quality. He showed that by frustrating Danjuma on more than one occasion, on a night when the people in front of him were not at their best.

Girona’s final result let them down, but when there were those moments of quality, it was Alisson who steadfastly ensured there were no hiccups in Catalonia.

“Alisson definitely didn’t look like he had been out for two months,” Slot said. “I joked with the players that maybe they wanted to see how ready he was because they made him make so many saves. But he showed why I always say he’s our number one.”

Darwin Nunez, who has scored just one goal in his last 10 appearances, was twice denied by Gazzaniga, but the Uruguayan international produced another of those now all too common with his deflected header from Dominik Szoboszlai’s hanging cross that assisted Curtis Jones Frustrating performances Salah was unable to make a profit.

But the hosts were undeterred and would have been ahead if Alisson and Daley Blind hadn’t shown the necessary composure in front of goal.

The former Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich defender’s last goal was 11 months ago and that was evident when he directed Miguel Gutierrez’s cross into the six-yard box.

Alisson parried Alejandro Frances’ follow-up attempt, parried a shot from Gutierrez and dove to his right to block Yaser Asprilla’s long-range shot. Liverpool recovered after the restart and won.

Slot: Darwin needs a goal

Liverpool coach Arne Slot:

“I almost feel really sorry for Girona, they are such a quality team and they deserve a lot more than the three points they have gotten so far. They had a really good game plan today, but we had a really good goalkeeper.”

“I would have liked to have seen Darwin score because he needs a goal and that’s why I kept him on the pitch for quite a long time. He was a threat, but when a striker doesn’t score you always wonder if it’s a bad game or because of a lack of confidence.

“Girona lost a lot of quality in the summer, so it says a lot about them to play the way they did and give us, Feyenoord and PSV so much trouble.”

Liverpool firing on all cylinders – Opta stats

• Liverpool have won all six UEFA Champions League games this season; In both the UEFA Champions League and the European Cup, the Reds were only able to record a longer winning streak across the competition between September 2021 and February 2022 (7 games).
• This is the third time that Liverpool have kept five consecutive clean sheets in both the UEFA Champions League and European Cup, previously this happened in September-December 2005 and September 1983-March 1984.
• Girona have failed to score in four of their six UEFA Champions League games this season (W1 L5), although their total expected goals (1.02 excluding penalties) is the third highest in a game in the competition this season, only behind the games against Sturm Graz in November (1.67) and Feyenoord in October (1.52).
• In major European competitions, Liverpool have won five away games in a row for the third time in their history, after May 2022 (6 games) and September 1984 (5 games).

History of the game in statistics

What’s coming up in the Champions League?