Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been told that he “wasted” one of his substitutions against Paris Saint-Germain as one Reds star “didn’t look fit”.
The Reds exited the Champions League on Tuesday night, losing 4-1 on penalties to PSG after the two European giants drew 1-1 on aggregate after extra time.
Liverpool and PSG could not be separated after the 2025 top scorer in Europe, Ousmane Dembele, levelled the tie with his goal inside the opening 15 minutes at Anfield.
The two sides exchanged huge chances but failed to capitalise as they ran out of steam in the latter stages of the match.
Slot made six substitutions from the 73rd minute onwards as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate were forced off with knocks, while Diogo Jota, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai made way. Darwin Ninez, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Wataru Endo were the players brought on.
None of these players were able to make a decisive impact and former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock claims Gakpo was a “wasted substitute”.
“Darwin Nunez didn’t have an effect on the game and Curtis Jones was poor when he came on,” Warnock said.
“Cody Gakpo didn’t look fit. It looked like a wasted substitution from Liverpool.”
On Nunez’s saved penalty, he added: “You could feel it as soon as he was walking forward.
“There was a sense of ‘oh no,’ and he was probably not the right option.
“To be honest, I am not going to say anything about anyone who takes a penalty, all credit to them, but I get what you mean. It’s that confidence when you are stepping up. It is just one of those situations.
“I am sat here thinking, wow, look at the size of Donnarumma. If he dives the right way, he has a great chance of saving it.”
Speaking on Liverpool drawing PSG in the last 16, Slot explained why he felt this was “unfair” on his side.
“Of course it is a shock,” Slot said of his side’s Champions League elimination.
“And it’s maybe not the moment to tell them now. Last season we were not in the Champions League. Two seasons ago we went out versus Madrid losing 5-2 [at Anfield, at the same stage].
“If you go out then maybe go out against one of the best teams, making a fight of it.
“They [PSG] in the end won and for us it is so, so, so unlucky that if you are number one in the league table you face Paris St-Germain, one of the best teams in Europe.
“It feels a bit unfair to go out in this round already – to win the group and then play a team as strong as PSG.”