Champions League: Arne Slot’s Alexander Isak gamble backfires as Liverpool’s silverware hopes end
Less than a year since Liverpool won the Premier League title, Arne Slot’s side find themselves in a position where their season depends on qualifying for the Champions League.
Maybe so is the future for slots. There will be no silverware and the Dutchman has already said that failure to play Champions League football next season will mean it will “absolutely not be an acceptable season”.
It was Liverpool’s 17th defeat of the season but it came after arguably one of their better performances. Until Ousmane Dembele’s shot against Paris St-Germain in the 72nd minute, Liverpool put up an admirable fight against the European champions.
“It was an intense game between two teams playing really good football,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique.
It is no shame for Liverpool to be knocked out by this PSG team. It is very enjoyable to watch Luis Enrique’s team have the ball and play with confidence.
But Liverpool’s concern is that they have gone backwards.
When these two teams met in the last 16 of the Champions League last season, PSG were the better side in two games but needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Liverpool.
This time they outplayed Slot’s team in Paris and although there were spells when Liverpool threatened on Tuesday night, the final score of 4-0 across two games was fair.
“Of course we were very disappointed because I think there were parts in the second half where you felt like ‘if we could score now, this could be a very special night’,” Slot said.
“But the future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We showed that we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium. To be the dominant team, there are not many teams that can be dominant against PSG and create as many chances as we do,” he added.
Liverpool’s xG value was 1.94 at Anfield, compared to 0.18 at Parc des Princes last week.
So there were positives to be taken, but there is still a lot to be done before they can be seen as serious competitors on the European stage again.
After the match, Mohamed Salah said goodbye to the Anfield fans after his last match in the Champions League with Liverpool jersey.
The big question now is whether Slot and Liverpool will return to the Champions League next season.
