Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool faced off this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their 2025-2026 Champions League quarter-final (the second leg is on April 14). The match ended in a 2-0 victory for PSG. After the game, Liverpool manager Arne Slot spoke to Canal+.
Slot: “They were able to play too easily.”
Your analysis?
“There were many times when we were man-marking them, and I think there were five or six times when they got one-on-one with our goalkeeper. We tried man-marking a lot, but it always resulted in a big chance for them. This team is built to dominate; it’s very difficult to dominate PSG.
We have to know who we’re up against, the quality of our opponents, and make the best possible plan.” We tried to press them high up the pitch from time to time, but not all the time. They were able to play too easily.
Slot “we were just trying to hold onto the 2-0”
With a two-goal deficit, you chose to leave Mo Salah on the bench. Why this decision?
As you said, we weren’t able to attack. We couldn’t get forward; the other team always had the ball. You have to know the quality of your players, and in the last 15-20 minutes, we were just trying to hold onto the 2-0 lead because we expected him to score a third.
If we had had more possession, it would have made sense to bring him on. But if we have to defend as much as we did, then he should save his energy for this weekend.
