
Alisson Becker's save on Tuesday is already worth millions to Liverpool FC.
The Liverpool goalkeeper was tested in the dying moments of a tense Champions League group stage match against Napoli, a game the English club was leading 1-0 at the time.
The Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik found himself in front of goal in the last moments and tested Alisson with a predator's shot from a near point-blank range, but the Brazilian shot-stopper got a limb in the way and somehow blocked the shot.Had Milik's strike gone in, Napoli would have equalised 1-1 and consequently taken Liverpool's place in the next round of the competition, thereby dumping the Reds into Europe's secondary - and less lucrative - tournament, the Europa League.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said that "the save was unbelievable," according to The Guardian.
Watch it again right here:
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But Alisson did what he was brought in to do at Liverpool - frustrate the team's opponents, keep a clean sheet, and make a return on the £65 million ($82 million) investment the club made when it bought him in a then-world record transfer for a goalkeeper in July, 2018.
Alisson is doing just that, as that one save alone means Liverpool will be $10 million better off this season. This is because the club will earn €9.5 million ($10.8 million) in prize money for participating in the first Champions League knockout round in February and March, next year.Had the team got dumped into the Europa League, it would have earned a paltry €500,000 ($570,000) by participating in the first knockout round, next year.
So, regardless of whether Liverpool wins or loses its Champions League knockout round fixtures in 2019, it will be $10.2 million better off - all because of Alisson's last-minute heroics.
Making yourself big, Alisson style pic.twitter.com/8aTQhq4PR0
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 12, 2018
When Liverpool needed a hero, up stepped @Alissonbecker
via @brfootball pic.twitter.com/OS36UZT46y
- FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 11, 2018