Arne Slot press conference: Every word on PSG 2-0 Liverpool

On still having hope for the second leg…

Yes, of course there is. I think football has shown so many times that everything is possible. I think it was 10, 15, 20 minutes after the game when I looked at my phone and I saw Atletico had beaten Barcelona at home 0-2 because of a red card. So in football, red cards, incidents, penalties yes or no, and don’t forget that Anfield can do a lot. I was sitting after the away game at Galatasaray in front of most of the same journalists who were also not very positive about our game and one week later at Anfield we played probably the best game of the season. Our fans do make a big difference for us and that’s also needed because I think it was completely clear today that we need our fans more than ever if we have to face this Paris Saint-Germain team.

On changing tactics to face PSG…

My first question to that was, have you ever seen a team playing tactics over here that didn’t allow Paris Saint-Germain to constantly have the ball and create chance after chance after chance? I’ve watched many games and there was all the same pattern and almost all the same pattern you saw tonight. They outplayed almost every opponent that they faced here. I think now first of all it is time for me to reflect on this game and focus mainly on the Fulham game.

Then we will try to come up with a game plan that will hopefully show a different game at Anfield and I think, and I’ve said this now a few times already, that if you want to press really aggressive then fans can be really helpful. The atmosphere being loud, it can give you the extra that you sometimes need. It is clear and obvious that we will not play the same tactic as we played tonight, but as I almost mentioned just a second ago, Milos 10 yards further up or 10 yards further back means it is a 4-3-3. It is completely fine with me if everyone wants to focus on the tactics, but for me that’s absolutely not the story of the game today. Every tactic has been tried over here but the result is always the same: Paris Saint-Germain blowing the opponent away.

On the threat of PSG’s full-backs…

It’s Hakimi, it’s Nuno Mendes, it’s their midfielders… you have to be really tight on them. If you’re not tight on the midfielders, they make the play, they dribble, they are so fast and you have to be really tight on them. If you then start to help a little bit more with your full-backs towards the midfield or closing the inside a little bit more, then their wingers come in one-v-one situations, which they dominate completely against any defender in the world. And if you then are really tight on their wingers, they make deep runs, so it’s not an easy team to play against because they have so many weapons – and Nuno Mendes and Hakimi are two of them. They have more, but again – I’ve said it multiple times now – I am convinced about the fact that we can show something different in less than a week’s time, because we play Wednesday-Tuesday and have a game in between. That means even less time to recover, less time to prepare, but I am convinced about the fact that we will play a much more similar game in a week’s time as we played last season at home.