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Liverpool were embarrassed by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, barely clinging to a slim hope of overturning the quarterfinal deficit in the return leg.
Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia netted for PSG, handing the reigning European champions a 2–0 aggregate advantage heading into next week's clash at Anfield.
In reality, the margin could have been greater, with a somewhat profligate PSG underdelivering on their xG, while Liverpool barely threatened throughout the match.
Salah Benched, Snubbed
Not trusted for one of the most important fixtures of the campaign? That's certainly how it looks.
Mohamed Salah's appearance among the substitutes said everything about how dramatically his stock has dropped over the past 12 months — from delivering one of the greatest individual seasons in memory, to being left out against the continent's top side.
Salah, who squandered a penalty last weekend, was presumably not being preserved for the Premier League fixture against Fulham on Saturday — if anything, that would be the match where he'd be rested between the two PSG encounters.
The Egyptian King had a difficult time against PSG twelve months ago, thoroughly neutralized by left back Nuno Mendes and failing to contribute a single goal or assist across 180 minutes of the round of 16 tie. Salah is also not renowned for his defensive work rate, which may account for Slot's choice to leave him out entirely rather than accommodate him in a different role within the adjusted 3-4-1-2 setup.
Yet even as substitutions were made later in the contest, Salah remained nowhere to be seen.
If Salah features against Fulham, don't expect him to start against PSG at Anfield.
There will be no grand send-off — just this.
Slot's Gamble on Formation Change Backfires
Much of the pre-match discussion revolved around whether this could mark the beginning of the end for Arne Slot at Liverpool.
An FA Cup humiliation at the hands of Manchester City represented a low point in what has already been a disappointing season for the Reds. It seems as though a growing number of supporters are turning against the Dutchman, rapidly exhausting the goodwill he earned with last season's Premier League triumph.
Clearly feeling compelled to do something different to avoid another embarrassing result, Slot took a risk with a new system designed to shore up Liverpool's defensive frailties and neutralize PSG's attacking threat. But with the hosts scoring so early, it left the Dutchman in a bind — too cautious to simply revert to the more familiar 4-2-3-1 that would have exposed his side to conceding further, yet unable to generate meaningful attacking play within that shape.
The voices calling for Slot's dismissal will only grow louder following this result.
Substitutions Made Late
Liverpool's approach clearly wasn't working, yet Slot stuck with the same personnel for nearly 80 minutes, by which point PSG were already two goals to the good and coasting toward a semifinal berth.
Eventually, four changes were made simultaneously, though to little effect. It was simply too late for Cody Gakpo, Andrew Robertson, Curtis Jones, and the returning Alexander Isak to make any meaningful impact.
Isak Returns
Isak has been absent since before Christmas after suffering a fractured leg while scoring in a Premier League victory over Tottenham Hotspur. The club-record signing recently resumed training, and this marked his first appearance back on the bench — and on the pitch.
Following the questionable maneuvering that forced through his transfer in the first place, the Swede was already short of match sharpness before his injury, which goes a long way toward explaining his underwhelming first half of the season. He now faces an even steeper road back, and it seems increasingly unlikely supporters will see Isak anywhere near his peak form before next season.
In 12 minutes of action at Parc des Princes, he touched the ball just three times, completed a single pass, and lost possession once. Much of that reflects the circumstances of the match, but it also highlights just how much work Isak still has ahead of him.