Salah did not play a single minute in the quarter-final at the Parc des Princes and was not involved in the team's lackluster performance, which is managed from the bench by Arne Slot.
The Dutch coach justified his tactical choice at the post-match press conference after the defeat: "I think in the final minutes of the match, it was more about survival for us than actually having a chance to score a goal," explained the Dutchman.
Mohamed Salah is going through a rather difficult season with Liverpool. He will soon turn 34 and has already announced that he will leave the English club at the end of the season. Until then, it seems that Arne Slot does not want to overuse him in matches where the Reds will spend most of the time without the ball. "Mo has a lot of quality, but I thought it was better for him not to spend 20-25 minutes defending in our own penalty area. We wanted to preserve his energy for the many matches awaiting us in the coming weeks," continued Slot.
The Liverpool coach particularly emphasized the significant threat posed by PSG's full-backs and the need to limit their forward runs: "Hakimi and Nuno Mendes themselves represent an incredible threat, and that's why we sent out Frimpong and Kerkez. That was the idea behind that decision. In that way, I thought we could try to press them high and aggressively. Generally, players like Miloลก and Jรฉrรฉmie are better prepared for that than traditional wingers," said Slot.
Since Salah's arrival in the summer of 2017, this match against PSG was his 34th for the Reds in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Of the previous 33, the Egyptian attacker missed only one single matchโthe famous semi-final second leg against Barcelona in the 2018/2019 season when Liverpool celebrated a 4-0 victory and advanced.