By Simon Wilkes
Liverpool boss Arne Slot admits the club’s Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain feels ‘unfair’ – but is proud of the performance at Anfield.
Slot’s Reds went into the last-16 tie with a 1-0 lead but that was cancelled out by Ousmane Dembele’s 12th-minute goal for the visitors, who then kept the hosts at bay.
The clash went to a penalty shootout, in which Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones had their attempts saved, leaving Liverpool boss Slot feeling hard done by.
So much effort
“When you put in so much effort that’s sometimes difficult and in the end it comes down to penalties and we, as Dutch, know how to lose [on penalties],” the Dutchman told a press conference after the match.
“It had everything you’d like to see from a football game. From a Liverpool perspective, you’d at least like to have a draw after 90 minutes but it came down to penalties.
“It feels unfair to go out at this round already. You’re at the top of the table then you face a team like PSG, but that’s also the nice part about football.
“Everybody around the world enjoyed watching this game and the margins are small, and if you want to win it you have to have some luck, we had it last week, I don’t think we had it.”
Incredible performance
Slot was pleased with the improvement in performance compared to Liverpool’s showing in Paris, and added: “It was the best game of football I was ever involved in. Incredible performance, especially compared to last week.
“In the first 20 to 25 minutes, we were all over them, created chance after chance and all of a sudden we were 1-0 down.
“Probably it was almost the opposite, maybe we ran out of luck because the margins were so small.
“After 90 minutes it felt we deserved more than being 1-0 down. I was waiting for us to score.
The perfect game
“We played the perfect game, except for scoring goals, it was the same for PSG last week when they played the perfect game and didn’t score, and it happened to us.
“It’s always difficult if you put so much effort in, for the first 25 minutes I’ve never seen them so aggressive and so intense as they were, and then you look at the scoreboard and you’re 1-0 down, an unlucky goal as well.”
Focused on final
But Slot dusted himself down and said he will ensure Liverpool remain focused on a strong end to the domestic campaign, with the Reds facing Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and having a 15-point lead over second-placed Arsenal in the Premier League table.
He concluded: “Now it’s clear what we have to do for the rest of the season – one league cup final and nine Premier League games to go.”
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