**Arne Slot has hit back at criticisms of his comments about Liverpool’s title win.**
Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Qarabag, Slot suggested that an early elimination may have aided his side’s successful Premier League bid.
The Reds were knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain in the competition’s last-16 phase, which the Dutchman claimed ‘maybe the reason’ why they won the league.
But his assessment drew condemnation from some sections of the Anfield faithful while club legend Steven Gerrard publicly described them as a ‘body blow’ for fans.
After his side’s [6-0 dismantling of the Azerbaijani outfit](https://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/63294-liverpool-6-0-qarabag-three-talking-points-virgil-van-dijk-jeremie-frimpong-andy-robertson/), however, Slot came out swinging and insisted that his words were taken ‘a little bit out of context’.
He said: “I said that it might – might, I used to word might but apparently not everybody is listening properly – have helped us that we lost against Paris Saint-Germain.
“I was not happy losing against Paris Saint-Germain, I wanted to go all the way with that team; that team was strong enough to win the Champions League as well.
“And we were by far the best team in the league, so we completely deserved to win the league.
“But if you are the best team in the league, then you need those players available. This season shows that if we have to play many games, sometimes you can get injuries as well.
“And that’s what I meant: we did not face injuries after we went out against Paris Saint-Germain.
“Some people wanted to make my world even more ridiculous, saying that we were 15 points clear – yes, we were maybe in one moment 15 points clear, but most of the time we were eight points clear.
“If you then face a situation of three, four, five injuries, it might have been more difficult for us.
“But we were the best team in the league and we could have won the Champions League as well.
“We would have loved to go to the next round last season, but this club, it’s harder if we have injuries than the clubs we are in competition with.
“That was the point I was trying to make but people picked it up in the wrong way, so maybe next time I should be a bit more clear in what I meant.”