Arne Slot said Liverpool “ran out of luck” after his side lost the “best game of football” he’s ever been involved in to PSG in the Uefa Champions League.
The Reds lost 4-1 on penalties after Ousmane Dembele levelled the tie 1-1 on aggregate with a first-half goal. Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones in the shootout to send the French outfit through to the quarter-finals.
“It was the best game of football where I was ever involved in,” Slot told Amazon Prime Video after the full-time whistle.
“Incredible performance, especially compared to last week. First 20/25 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 tonight.
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“After 90 minutes it felt we deserved more than being 1-0 down. I was waiting for us to score. I don’t think the second half, apart from the last five minutes, when they threatened us once or twice. We played the perfect game except from 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 today.
“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 today, and then you look at the scoreboard and you’re 1-0 down, an unlucky goal as well. 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].
“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 today.”
Slot added: “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.”
Liverpool will have to regroup themselves ahead of Sunday’s clash with Newcastle United at Wembley, where they can claim the first trophy of the season. That was the message captain Virgil van Dijk imparted to his teammates after the game.
“It’s part of football, I said to the guys, obviously, you can be disappointed because we’re out of the competition, but chin up and get ready for the next challenge, a beautiful one on the weekend,” the Dutch defender said.
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