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- Close to a full week of team sessions, so he can play a part, Slot says, or he would not have been brought. He was left out at the Etihad because the medical and performance staff did not think a performance could be got out of him yet.
“But not to start. Let that be clear.”
- The moments that hurt most are just before half-time and just after, he says: level on the run of play, then two down at the break and three down immediately after. Salah had two big chances in the spell between, and the game was already gone.
- He accepts it: a strong, firm reaction after a night like that is good from a captain, and the feeling was shared by every player, every staff member and every supporter. What he wants now is the same firmness shown on the pitch.
- A simple answer, he says. Those opening 35 minutes went toe to toe with a side he rates among the two hardest in the world to play in open play. The four goals came from the only four chances Liverpool gave away.
- City stayed positional and let Liverpool have the ball; this opponent does not give a second of comfort on the ball, pressing every moment of the game. Twenty minutes like the ones at City, he warns, and the same four goals arrive here.
- They have become experienced in setbacks, he says drily, and this was a big one: a quarter-final, a heavy defeat, against a rival. He starts listing the others, then stops, noting that other people still want to ask questions.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed that Alexander Isak is ready to play a part against PSG, but not from the start, as the Reds prepare for another huge Champions League night.
Slot explained that Alexander Isak has now completed almost a full week of team training and is in a much better condition than he was before the Manchester City game.
Arne Slot also addressed Virgil van Dijk’s strong comments after the defeat to Man City, insisting the squad must show a firm reaction against Paris Saint-Germain.
Slot admitted Liverpool can compete with top European teams, but warned that if Liverpool repeat the 20-minute collapse against Manchester City, PSG have the quality to punish them again.
With a quarter-final place on the line, can Liverpool respond in Paris and keep their Champions League hopes alive?
