Slot tips Liverpool to bounce back

Paris — Arne Slot says Liverpool’s season is not beyond salvation and has challenged his players to seize a “second chance” against the very side that ended their Champions League dream a year ago.

Speaking on the eve of Wednesday’s quarter-final first leg at the Parc des Princes, the under-fire head coach rejected suggestions his squad surrendered during Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup humiliation at Manchester City and urged them to replicate the intensity they showed in the opening half-hour at the Etihad.

“I didn’t see players giving up,” Slot countered when asked about captain Virgil van Dijk’s post-match assertion that the team had “given up.” “It’s good for our captain that he has a strong and firm reaction after a game like that.”

The blunt loss to City was Liverpool’s third defeat in five matches and leaves them fifth in the Premier League, placing renewed emphasis on European progress if they are to guarantee a return to the Champions League next term. Their opponents, reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, are unbeaten in domestic competition and dispatched the Reds on penalties in last season’s round of 16 after Liverpool had edged the first leg in France.

“We can never take a quarter-final of the Champions League for granted, let alone if you face the champions of Europe,” Slot said. “It’s a nice challenge because in football it’s sometimes also nice to get a second chance.”

A potential boost arrives in the form of Alexander Isak. The Swedish striker, sidelined since sustaining a leg fracture against Tottenham in December, has completed a week of full training and is included in the travelling party, though Slot cautioned against expecting a start. “He can play a part, otherwise I wouldn’t take him,” the Dutch coach confirmed.

Slot lavished praise on Luis Enrique’s PSG, comparing their evolution to shaving milliseconds off a world-class sprint. “In the 100m sprint, if you run 9.8 you cannot go to 8.6; you can maybe go to 9.75. These are the margins we are talking about with Paris Saint-Germain.”

Liverpool’s German playmaker Florian Wirtz, one of several high-profile summer arrivals, insisted belief in the manager remains intact. “Of course we are believing in the manager. The team should believe in the manager because they won the league last season,” he said. “We still have things to play for.”

Slot, too, clings to the positives, citing the controlled first 35 minutes against City as a template. “If we are from the first to the last second at that level, we have a chance. If not, it’s going to be a really hard night again, like it was last year.”

Kick-off in Paris is set for 21:00 local time, with the return leg at Anfield scheduled for next Tuesday. For Slot and Liverpool, redemption may be only 180 minutes away — or painfully out of reach.