Arne Slot lost for words with question he was asked immediately after Liverpool lost to PSG
Arne Slot gave interviews after Liverpool's Champions League elimination at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain and the manager made clear where his priorities now lie
by Tom Victor · The MirrorLiverpool manager Arne Slot was stunned to hear talk turn to the futures of three out-of-contract stars just moments after the Reds' Champions League dream ended at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
Slot's team won their first leg at the Parc des Princes but couldn't finish the job at Anfield. Ousmane Dembele's first-half goal levelled the scores on aggregate, and Gianluigi Donnarrumma saved from Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones as PSG won a penalty shoot-out.
Reds trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are all out of contract at the end of the season. No member of the trio has yet confirmed or denied whether they will still be at the club next term, but if they do leave then they won't do so as Champions League winners.
Slot was asked about the future of his key men during a post-match interview. However, he made it clear that was far from the front of his mind.
"It is creative to come up with the contract situation," Slot said. "That is the last thing I am thinking of". Turning his attentions towards the match action, he suggested the tough draw played a part, but also recognised his team still has a chance to end the season with two trophies.
"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," he told Amazon Prime. "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 today.
"Now its clear what we have to do for the rest of the season, one League Cup final and nine Premier League games to go," he added. That League Cup final is less than a week away, with Liverpool facing Newcastle United at Wembley on Sunday, and they'll need to recover mentally as well as physically from their PSG test.
Will Liverpool's Champions League exit change their players' contract decisions? Have your say in the comments section
Reds defender Andy Robertson said he couldn't fault the effort of his team-mates, conceding it just wasn't to be. However, the Scotland international has faith the players can bounce back at Wembley.
"We have got to look back on and there will be a lot of positives from this game, but a massive disappointment to not go through," he said. "Finishing top of the group and got the toughest tie of the whole Champions League. If [PSG] play to that level they should go far in the competition.
"It wasn't meant to be and we need to dust ourselves down. We always bounce back, there's a lot of tired legs in there. Cup finals, we enjoy them, and that's the biggest game."
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