Alisson has admitted that the pain of missing out on the Premier League title by just a single point despite an almost-perfect debut season in England is spurring Liverpool on this term.
The acquisition of Brazil's number one – after signing Virgil van Dijk at the start of the year – helped turn Jurgen Klopp's men into credible challengers for Manchester City's crown in 2018 but although he helped them to secure a club record 97 points and of course end the campaign in triumph with victory in the Champions League final, the former Roma man acknowledges it was galling to be pipped at the post by Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's side ended with 14 victories on the trot.
Alisson told the Guardian : “Last season we had a great experience, an almost perfect season.
“We lost one game and that one game was against City.
“We know how big this game is for us. We know how big the game is for everyone – for them and for our fans.
“In the end it is just three more important points but Manchester City have been the best team in the league for the last few years so we need to give everything to win this game.
“We don’t want to feel how we felt last season.
“Being second by just one point – and we don’t know which game made us lose the title because we had a few draws where we could have done better, and we had the loss away to Man City when we could have won or drawn – means we know that we need to give everything in every game if we want to become Premier League champions.
“We want it and we will try to do it.”
Liverpool's sixth European Cup, secured with a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid, ensured they did not end their incredible season empty-handed and one of the most iconic scenes from the post-match celebrations was a very modern picture, as Alisson's safe hands held a mobile phone.
The goalkeeper was messaging his wife Natalia who had returned to their native Brazil ahead of the upcoming Copa America tournament so she could prepare to give birth to their second child.
Alisson said: “My wife was pregnant and she needed to go to Brazil because I had the Copa América coming up afterwards and I always wanted to be there to see the birth of my son.
“The only way we could make that happen was if she went home to Brazil, and so she missed the final.
“She couldn’t be there in the stadium and I know how important those moments are for her too.
“They are important moments for us to be together as a family, my daughter [Helena] also.”
The 27-year-old, who is expected be denied the chance to go head-to-head with national team rival Ederson after the City keeper suffered a muscle injury in their midweek Champions League fixture against Atalanta, added: “My wife went to every away game with us in the Champions League last season but could not come to the final so I FaceTimed her after the game to bring her inside the stadium and to celebrate with me on the pitch. I wanted her to see and experience everything. It was a special moment.
“I said to her: ‘We are the champions, we got it!’
“She worked hard with me for this. I have my team-mates working together with me but the most important part of my career is the support I receive from my family – my wife and my parents.
“My parents were at the stadium fortunately and it was important for me to speak with my wife and my daughter after we'd won.
“My daughter misses me when I’m away from home and I told her: ‘Daddy got it, Daddy got it!’
“Everything that happened in the final was really special for me. I lived that final intensely and every moment will be in my mind forever.”
