Beth LindopApr 14, 2026, 11:32 PM
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LIVERPOOL, England -- Arne Slot has explained his decision to withdraw striker Alexander Isak at halftime in Liverpool's 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, insisting it was not "realistic" for him to play any longer.
The Sweden international was handed his first start in four months against the European champions, having recently returned from a leg and ankle injury sustained in December. However, he struggled to impact the game and was substituted at the break having had just five touches in the first half.
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"I said before the game that if you go to extra time and he plays the second half and plays 45 minutes, there are only two minutes in between before extra time comes up for half-an-hour," Slot said. "I don't think that was realistic. To play him for 45 minutes and see at halftime how he feels to add five to 10 minutes to that, that was a possibility today.
"But because we already had to make the first substitution in the first half, I didn't want to make the second substitution five minutes after halftime. That's why I took him off at halftime."
Alexander Isak was taken off at halftime in Liverpool's loss to Paris Saint-Germain. Michael Regan - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Despite Isak's limited impact, Slot defended the decision to play the striker, who cost a British-record £125 million (£169.6m) fee to sign last summer.
"He was twice close to a goal and that's why you play a striker of his level. There was one header from a set-piece and one great run in behind Pacho where he was really close to scoring which was eventually offside. It's good to have him back. He was ready and if I thought he wasn't ready then I wouldn't have played him.
"If you compare us today to last week, I think it's fair to say he was completely ready to play otherwise you can't play a first half as we did, although the second half was even better."
Isak's return to fitness is timely considering fellow striker Hugo Ekitike was stretchered off against PSG after going down off the ball and the forward will now be assessed to determine whether he is able to feature again this season.
"Hugo, we all saw on the video and clips, that doesn't look good," Slot said. "For 88 minutes [before] tonight we have played with Florian [Wirtz], Alex and Hugo. We added about 27 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season. The good thing is Alex is back."