Champions League: Big night for Arne Slot and Liverpool with no Mohamed Salah
What matters now is Liverpool progressing. After nine defeats in 12 matches, they are unbeaten in their last four and appear to have put the toughest phase behind them.
Inevitably, Slot was then asked about Salah and former Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf told him that players “make mistakes”.
“Everyone makes mistakes in life, but does the player know that he made a mistake? Should the initiative come from him or me? That’s another question,” said Slot.
Van Dijk, meanwhile, remains undecided on whether his teammate left the team disappointed.
“There’s no point in saying that if someone has disappointed someone,” he said. “He didn’t travel based on the consequences of what he said. That’s it.
“He had a completely normal training session yesterday. Let’s see what the situation is like when we come back on Friday. My focus is on the team and at this point Mo is still part of the team. We’ll see what happens.”
But this was a night to praise those who played, particularly Szoboszlai, who has been directly involved in more goals than any other Liverpool player this season (10 – five goals, five assists).
“I asked him a lot of things,” Slot added. “I think what’s special is how hard he runs – he’s one of the few players to play all four games in 10 days.
“What he did physically and football-wise is very special, he stepped up in a difficult moment.
“It was the first penalty he gave away to Liverpool during the game but he took a great shot and cleared the ball.”
Winning at Milan is no easy task, considering Inter are unbeaten in their last 18 Champions League home matches.
“It has to do with what we do here,” Slot added. “I fully understand that at the press conference on Friday all the questions will be about Mo.
“Tonight it has to be all about a winning team in a stadium like this. That’s what we need to focus on.”
“Tonight it has to be all about the players who are here. There have been many of these evenings in the rich history that Liverpool has.”
Proof, if needed, that Liverpool will move on with or without Salah.
