Liverpool's stars have been celebrating their “crazy” teammate after what he did against AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday night.
Liverpool secured a comfortable victory against the Italian side with plenty of stars catching the eye.
It was exactly the fight back Arne Slo will have been looking for as his side bounced back from a disappointing result at the weekend against Nottingham Forest.
There was one player who particularly impressed and earned the recognition of his teammates at the end of the match.
Read more: Liverpools battle for £110m superstar
How Ibrahima Konate seriously impressed vs AC Milan
Konate scored Liverpool's first goal in the game and produced a brilliant performance.
The Frenchman has started the season very impressively alongside Virgil van Dijk, after not starting the first game against Ipswich, in which he came on at half time.
There was talk over the summer whether Arne Slot may prefer Jarell Quansah, with some fans believing him to be more comfortable on the ball, however the young English defender is yet to play a minute since coming off at half-time in the season’s opener.
The pair have the two highest aerial duel success rates, 15 or above contested, in the Premier League this season, with Konate boasting a ridiculous 87.5%, which is 11.5% higher than even that of Van Dijk.
Best aerial duel win rates in the Premier League this season (15+ contested):
◉ 87.5% - Ibrahima Konaté
◉ 76.0% - Virgil van Dijk
◎ 71.4% - Marc GuéhiThe only player out-performing VVD is his centre-back partner. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/YHPspb7d2b
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 18, 2024
Despite these high success rates, this is the first goal a Liverpool centre back has scored this season, with Liverpool drafting in AI over the summer to help them weaponise corners more effectively this season.
Speaking after the game Van Dijk said: “When there is a set piece we try to be important. The delivery was special.”
Liverpool's love for Konate
Konate took to social media after the game to celebrate Liverpool’s result with the caption: “Big win to start the #UCL campaign! Happy to score tonight and help the team! 💪🏿🔴.”
His teammates were clearly impressed with his performance, flooding the comments with praise. Man of the match Ryan Gravenberch described Konate as “crazy”, with Dominik Szoboszlai simply commenting “MJ”, likely comparing the Frenchman’s leap for his goal to that of the iconic Michael Jordan.
Van Dijk, Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister were among others to show their love for Konate in the comments of the post.
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