Arne Slot makes Steven Gerrard U-turn after becoming Liverpool boss

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has admitted that joining the club has influenced him to change his decision on his Champions League all-time XI .

The Liverpool boss was asked to name his preferred starting eleven from players to have played in the tournament over the decades, with the Dutchman naming as many as five players who have represented the club.

While naming current players Alisson Becker , Trent Alexander-Arnold , Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah - all who he now coaches - Slot named Steven Gerrard as his third midfielder... but admitted he would not have given that answer one year ago.

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Slot, who has a love for FC Barcelona through former Dutch players starring with the Spanish club, stated that he would have chosen Andres Iniesta over Gerrard if he was asked the question before he became Liverpool's head coach this past summer.

Speaking on an Amazon Prime video, he said: "If you would have asked me this a year ago, I would probably have said Andres Iniesta... but I think now I'm going to go for Steven Gerrard.

"While Iniesta and Zinedine Zidane probably deserve to be in, they played with incredible teammates. Gerrard did too, but I don't think he played with the same level of players of those two... but he was still that special."

Liverpool are back in the Champions League after missing out last season, winning both of their opening games against Italian teams AC Milan and Bologna to start - with them set to face RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Girona, Lille and PSV in the league's new format.

Gerrard, of course, won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 - in what many people acknowledge to be one of the Reds' weaker teams on paper throughout the past 20 decades, having the midfielder almost single-handedly carry them through games at times.

Arne Slot's Champions League XI: Allison, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Gerard Pique, Frank de Boer, Sergio Busquets, Steven Gerrard, Luka Modric, Mohamed Salah, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

Liverpool.com says : "While many would argue against Steven Gerrard being in this time after only winning one Champions League trophy in his career - he was named in UEFA's century team alongside Xavi and Andres Ineista in midfield - ahead of the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Sergio Busquets."