Arne Slot has issued a stark warning to his Liverpool squad, demanding a seven times increase in intensity for their upcoming clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, following a tepid first-half performance against Southampton. The Reds' head coach described the first 45 minutes as their worst of the season. A second-half comeback saw them overturn Southampton's 1-0 lead at Anfield and extend their Premier League lead to 16 points with a 3-1 victory.
Darwin Nunez's close-range finish and two Mohamed Salah penalties securing the comeback on Merseyside but Liverpool will need to be much better against PSG in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. Slot's side lead 1-0 after a smash-and-grab away win in Paris. "I think it was maybe the first time this season that I saw this tempo," Slot remarked about the lacklustre effort against Southampton.
"I think Paris St Germain showed the right example. They played Lille in incredible intensity, 4-0 up at half-time. Then they played against us and that intensity, I haven't seen that before in any game this season.
"So when I look at the game against Paris St Germain, we have to go one step up in terms of intensity. And if I compare it with the game today, we have to go three, four, five, six, seven steps up in terms of the intensity if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round."
Meanwhile, Southampton, facing Premier League relegation, had their manager Ivan Juric criticising the decision to award Liverpool a penalty after Will Smallbone's challenge on Nunez, which he deemed "soft". Salah scored the spot-kick to make it 2-1 to the home team just three minutes after Nunez's equaliser.
Juric, who expects Jan Bednarek to return for the crucial match against Wolves following a concussion, pinpointed the penalty as the pivotal moment: "I think the penalty was not a penalty and that changed the match," he asserted. "I don't like this decision.
"The contact was too soft to be a penalty. This cannot be a penalty ever. I'm sorry it happened because it was 1-1. But I have to say, we're a young team and there are moments where we have to show more focus and more concentration because then we can use these in the future."