Prior to Liverpool’s comeback win over Southampton, Arne Slot stated that Liverpool was entering a week of three finals.
The comments came only a few days after Liverpool’s smash-and-grab in Paris. Of course, Slot was talking about Southampton, the second-leg Champions League game against PSG and the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.
“My full focus is now on Southampton,” he said on Friday. “It is the first of three finals to play in the upcoming week. For me, the Southampton game is by far the most important of the week, not only because it is the first one we play but because it is a very important game for us.”
Liverpool won its first final on Saturday afternoon – although it wasn’t without a first-half wobble. After a controversial opener from Will Smallbone, the Reds stormed back in the second half through Darwin Nunez and a couple of Mohamed Salah penalties.
Slot told BBC’s Match of the Day that being able to win in such a manner is a positive. “It’s a sign of a good team that you can win in different ways,” he said. “It was a poor performance first half – not only because of the way we played but also because of the energy we brought.”
But speaking in his post-match press conference shortly after, he did add a fair warning to his players that what he just saw won’t fly against PSG and Newcastle.
“This was the most important game of the week,” he said, doubling down on his point of three cup finals.” The first of three finals. I hope in the next finals we play a bit better than the first one. The only good thing in the first 45 minutes was that they saved their energy [for PSG] and didn’t run at all. It was maybe the first time this season I saw this tempo.
(Image: 2025 Chris Brunskill/Fantasista)
“We have to go one step up in terms of intensity against PSG. Compared to the game today we have to go three, four, five, six, seven times up in terms of intensity if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round.”
PSG, meanwhile will need no encouragement. It was reported on Saturday morning that the players have every belief they will avenge their first-leg loss at Anfield.
“In the locker room after the match, the atmosphere did not seem gloomy or sad as one might have imagined after such a cruel defeat,” L’Equipe reported. “Some players approached Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was not blameless on the goal and was clearly marked, to tell him: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll qualify’.”
