Liverpool manager Arne Slot faces disappointment over Dominik Szoboszlai's international break workload while Paris Saint-Germain's request to reschedule their Lens fixture has sparked controversy ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals
Tom Victor Senior Sports Journalist and Will Schofield Senior Sports Reporter
08:40, 25 Mar 2026Updated 08:41, 25 Mar 2026
Arne Slot
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Liverpool face a busy end to the season (Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool have a brief respite before they're back in action, with international football taking centre stage for now. The Reds will be hoping their players return unharmed, but any hopes for a rest might be dashed.
Arne Slot and his squad won't see club action again until the Easter weekend, when they face off against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Just four days later, they'll be seeking revenge against Paris Saint-Germain, following last season's Champions League exit at the hands of Luis Enrique's team.
As we near the business end of the season, managers often worry about player fatigue and maintaining a fresh squad. This concern can take various forms for different clubs, particularly with an international break to navigate.
Slot anticipates Szoboszlai letdown
Two male individuals, dressed in matching red uniforms with white accents and logos, are standing on a field with trees in the background. They appear to be soccer players, engaged in a moment of camaraderie or conversation during a training session or match.
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Liverpool players are heading off on their international break(Image: Boglarka Bodnar/EPA/Shutterstock)
Ahead of the international break, Arne Slot expressed some hope that his Liverpool players wouldn't accumulate too many minutes on duty for their nations, reports the Mirror.
"I think the players need a break more than the manager and unfortunately they have to keep on playing. Let's hope that their national team coaches do understand that at Liverpool a lot of players have played a lot of minutes, like at other clubs but I think other clubs perhaps could have rotated more than I could have this season."
He added: "So, let's hope that we've got national team coaches that will not play them 180 minutes over two games." Yet, according to reports in Hungary, Dominik Szoboszlai is unlikely to be given a rest by Magyars boss Marco Rossi simply because it's what Slot desires.
Hungary don't have competitive fixtures during the March international break, having fallen to Ireland in November and failed to secure a World Cup play-off place. Instead, they face a couple of friendlies against Slovenia and Greece.
Lens release statement over PSG controversy
Liverpool boss Arne Slot
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Liverpool boss Arne Slot will be working towards the PSG clash(Image: Will Cooper/Shutterstock)
Paris Saint-Germain's Ligue 1 rivals Lens have released a strongly-worded statement in response to the reigning champions' request to postpone their league fixture.
PSG had been eager to rearrange the match to give themselves a better opportunity of representing France against Liverpool in the Champions League.
"It does indeed appear to us that a troubling sentiment is taking hold: that of a French championship gradually relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of the European imperatives of some," Lens said. "A singular conception of sporting equity, the equivalent of which is hard to find in other major continental competitions.
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"Changing the date of this match today would mean, for Racing Club de Lens, being deprived of competition for 15 days and then chaining matches every three days-a rhythm that corresponds neither to the one defined at the start of the championship, nor to the resources of a club that could absorb this type of new constraint without consequence."
Lens and PSG are scheduled to clash on April 11, sandwiched between the two legs of Les Parisiens' quarter-final tie against Liverpool. PSG, who presently lead Lens by one point in the Ligue 1 standings with a match in hand, informed BBC Sport that this kind of fixture rearrangement has precedent and "in no way calls the league into question".