Ibrahima Konate missed Liverpool's crunch Champions League clash with Marseille for family reasons
Arne Slot.
Arne Slot.(Image: TNT Sports)
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Arne Slot admitted Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate is going through a "very sad" time after missing their Champions League clash against Marseille due to personal reasons.
The Frenchman did not travel with the Reds to Marseille after returning to his homeland to attend to a family matter. Konate was a notable absentee from their open training for Wednesday's crunch fixture in the elite European competition.
Liverpool had already qualified for the next phase of the tournament, however, a win over Roberto De Zerbi's side would fire them to within touching distance of automatic qualification to the Round of 16. As a result of Konate's absence, Joe Gomez returned to the starting 11 to deputise alongside the Liverpool captain.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Slot said: "No, first of all for the family matter, why he is not here, it is very sad for him. Second of all, we miss him because I mainly played him (and Virgil van Dijk)...
"Joe is a good replacement but not played much in the one-and-a-half year that I have been here, for obvious reasons.
"But it's a great game for him, he's not played a lot. He has showed that he can build a great partnership with Virgil, winning the Premier League under Jurgen five years ago now. He's shown he can be a really good player for us."
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