Slot praises his man of the HOUR Alex

REDS BOSS IMPRESSED WITH ISAK FITNESS IN 60 MINUTES OF ACTION

- By PAUL GORST at Anfield

ARNE Slot admits he was "positively surprised" by Alexander Isak’s fitness after the £125m striker played for an hour in Liverpool's 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid.

The Sweden international had only played 18 minutes, for Sweden against Kosovo during the recent international break, since May but was handed his Reds debut as they kicked off their Champions League campaign with a dramatic victory over Diego Simeone's side at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Isak lasted an hour before being withdrawn for Hugo Ekitike and Slot was able to reflect on a good night's work for his new centre forward, who linked up promisingly a number of times with fellow new signing Florian Wirtz.

"I was positively surprised by how fit Alexander was during the 60 minutes," Slot said.

"That maybe tells you that it might be different to sign a 20-year-old from a different league than a 25-year-old used to playing in this league.

"Although he only trained for two weeks, he has so many games under his belt in this league.