Arne Slot delivers his verdict after Liverpool book their place in the last-16 of the Champions League with a 6-0 win at home to Qarabag
01:00, 29 Jan 2026Updated 07:13, 29 Jan 2026
Arne Slot looks on prior to the Champions League match between Liverpool and Qarabag at Anfield on January 28, 2026(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Arne Slot has declared Liverpool are “hungry for more” after booking their place in the Champions League knockout stages in emphatic fashion. The Reds romped to a 6-0 win over Azerbaijan champions Qarabag to secure third spot in the final league standings with the biggest margin of victory during Slot’s time in charge.
Alexis Mac Allister scored twice while Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and substitute Federico Chiesa also found the target.
Liverpool have avoided the need to negotiate the play-off round next month and will now face one of Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray or Bruges in the round of 16.
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And Slot said: “It is what you want if you start the Champions League season, you want to finish in the top eight, because that helps because you skip a round, and sometimes you can have a really hard team to play against in a round like that, which is shown by the teams we could face.
“So we’re happy that we are going straight away to the last 16, especially because it’s only two years ago that we were playing Europa League and we went out in the quarter-finals against Atalanta.
“So two seasons in a row now, being in the last 16 and this last season we were very hungry for more. We will definitely be hungry for more this season as well.”
Slot spoke before the game of wanting an improvement in both boxes after Liverpool saw a 13-game unbeaten run ended with a dramatic 3-2 Premier League loss at Bournemouth last Saturday.
And the Reds boss said: “There was an obvious improvement. But with all respect for the team we faced tonight, I expect Newcastle (United, on Saturday) to be a stronger side than Qarabag. Although Qarabag showed this season that they’ve been a very good team.
“But still, we hardly conceded anything. They weren’t six, seven or eight minutes that the other team were better than us, and that’s the maximum usually in our games and then we always concede.
“But today we made sure there were no minutes that the other team were better than us.
“Set-pieces have played a vital role in our Champions League campaign until now and tonight again, because the 1-0 was a set-piece and the 3-0 was a set-piece. That gives a complete different look and feel to game.”
Slot added: “Very positive about our game, very, very clinical in both boxes. Although after the 2-0, I think we had multiple chances to make it three.
“But we hardly gave away a chance, and in the 92nd minutes, you could see, one day maybe their first and only counter-attack of the second half, how much effort we put in to spend back, my number nine Federico Chiesa was defending inside the six-yard box.
“If we can improve in both boxes it’s going to be very hard for any team to pay against us, but showing that once is not enough, we have to show this from now on constantly.”