Liverpool manager Arne Slot conceded that his side had been conclusively outplayed by Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Wednesday but defended his choice to field three central defenders, while maintaining that the Reds remained hopeful heading into the second leg.
“Paris Saint-Germain was much better today and could have scored more than two goals — the good thing is that the players showed fighting spirit all the time and kept going,” Slot said after his team fell, 2-0, in France.
Desire Doue opened the scoring for PSG early on with a deflected strike, while underlining their first-half dominance Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added a second from open play after the hour mark in a game where 70 percent possession and 18 attempts were registered against three by the visitors.
You always think you can do better, but look: We were in survival mode for much of the game, and maybe we are also in survival mode at this stage of the season,” said Slot, whose own team has won only one of its last six games.
“It’s really difficult against this team. PSG were the better side and we never gave up, and that’s why we still have a chance in this tie, and now we can introduce the tie back at Anfield, but there is still an important game to play against Fulham.”
Slot chose Joe Gomez at centre-back alongside Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah was among the substitutes and did not play at all — unlike Alexander Isak, who came on in the closing stages for his first game since December through injury.
Salah ‘saving his energy’
“The final part of the game became more about survival for us than anything else, and it was never really about scoring,” Slot said when asked why he was reluctant to introduce the Egyptian off the bench.
“Mo has so much quality but for Mo to defend, for 20 to 25 minutes in his own box, I believe it is a big help that he saves energy for the many, many games we have ahead.”
And the Dutchman is feeling the heat after his team slipped to fifth in the Premier League and now face a genuine threat of leaving Europe unless they can overturn defeat next Tuesday.
“The specific reasons as to why I changed formation was largely based on the attacking threats of PSG’s wide players, with Hakimi on the right and Mendes on the left,” he said.
“Milos (Kerkez) had to almost play as a left-winger against Hakimi, and we only had four defenders left, so you could almost call it a 4-3-3,” he said.
“Imagine if we’d actually had real wingers up against Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.
Liverpool must now try to respond at home to Fulham in the Premier League before a return against PSG, who were given a free weekend after their Ligue 1 match at title rivals Lens was postponed.
“We played very well against what was a top-class side — they changed their system, but we’re used to that because teams have a tendency to change up when it comes to playing us,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
“It’s just a shame because we made so many chances in the second half and could have got more goals.”
PSG eliminated Liverpool in the last 16 last season, advancing via a penalty shoot-out at Anfield.
“I’ve been at Anfield many times as both a player and a coach and it is always complicated, yet mentality is always the same no matter where we play, we want to go out to win the game,” Enrique told Liverpool’s website.