Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was delighted with how his untested centre-back pairing of Fabinho and Joe Gomez performed in the 1-0 win over Ajax in their Champions League opener.
A Nicolas Tagliafico 35th-minute own goal decided an untidy match in Amsterdam as only the Reds' second clean sheet in 13 European games as the away team on an opponent's ground proved decisive.
Midfielder Fabinho, in particular, was exceptional filling the hole left by Virgil Van Dijk's long-term knee injury – hooking a Dusan Tadic lob off the goalline to keep the score at 1-0 – but he also had a positive influence on Gomez alongside him.
"Good but even Fabinho can play better," Klopp said on the performance of the Brazil international, whose partnership with Gomez was the 35th centre-back pairing used by the German.
"This combination had not played together so they need to get used to each other, the verbal commands, what you need to say to the midfield.
"Fabinho can play the position, he likes playing it actually. If I asked him to play right-back I don't think he would enjoy it as much.
"I'm not surprised Fabinho plays in the position, otherwise I would have thought about a different solution.
"It was a good performance but there is a lot to improve, that is good. It was absolutely good tonight and we'd like it to carry on.
Ajax coach Erik Ten Hag felt his players wasted an opportunity against a Liverpool team missing Van Dijk and obviously not at their fluent best.
"It was a good team performance. We didn't score but we did have enough chances," he said.
"They (his players) had Liverpool around their finger for a while and we are very happy about that. Liverpool were fragile tonight but we didn't take advantage of that."
