Arne Slot explains decision to bench Mohamed Salah against PSG
Image Credits: Imago Images
Arne Slot has explained why Mohamed Salah has been benched for Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, with Jeremie Frimpong coming into the starting XI.
Giorgi Mamardashvili starts in goal again, with Alisson Becker still sidelined through injury. Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez also feature, as they did in the FA Cup clash against Manchester City, with suggestions that Liverpool could deploy a back five.
Alexis Mac Allister returns in midfield alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, while Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz complete the front line. Salah, the returning Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa are among the options on the bench.
Liverpool head into the clash following a heavy 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City last weekend. Salah missed a penalty against Man City at the weekend. He was the last Liverpool player to leave the pitch at full-time, though most fans in the away end had already left early.
The former Roma forward was left out by Arne Slot for December’s Champions League trip to Inter Milan after claiming he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club this season.
Since returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty in January, Salah has been a regular starter, but Slot has chosen to begin Wednesday’s game against Paris Saint-Germain with the forward on the bench.
Explaining why Salah is starting on the bench, Slot told TNT Sports: “I think this is probably one of the first times this season that I had to make very, very, very hard decisions.
“Not completely the first time, but far too many times this season I hardly didn’t have to make a decision because [of] injured players, players not able to play 90 so I had to mix them up with two or three players playing 45.
“Now, for the first part of the season, I have players on the bench, not completely the first time but for the first time multiple players on the bench that can impact the game.
“It’s not only Mo, it’s Alexander Isak, it’s Andy Robertson, it’s Curtis Jones, Federico Chiesa, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and I think I forget one. That’s a completely normal thing for a club like us and unfortunately that hasn’t happened a lot this season.”
Salah confirmed late last month that his ninth season at Anfield would be his final one, with the Egypt captain set to leave as a free agent, despite having a year remaining on the two-year contract he signed 12 months ago.
He is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time. Across nine seasons, Salah has won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, two Carabao Cups, the 2022 FA Cup, and the club’s first-ever Club World Cup in December 2019.