Mohamed Salah did not travel to Milan along with the rest of Liverpool, but Arne Slott’s Reds lifted their Champions League hopes with a dramatic late win over Inter.
Liverpool achieved a vital late victory away to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, but much of the talk surrounding the match centered around Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian international was left out of the Reds’ traveling squad following a heated interview after he was left out of the starting XI for Saturday’s game against Leeds.
In Salah’s absence, Liverpool delayed their victory at San Siro. Florian Wirtz went down in the penalty area and won a penalty, and Dominik Szoboszlai made no mistake from the spot. But despite the late drama, the line of questioning for captain Virgil van Dijk and manager Arne Slott was as expected.
“I think tonight should be about a team like this, against a winning team like this, and a stadium like this,” Slott told Prime Video.
“That should be the focus tonight. I totally understand if you go to a press conference on Friday and all the questions are about Mo, but I think these players deserve to be talked about tonight.”
“They say everyone makes mistakes in life, so should the players think they made mistakes too? And the next question is, did it come from me or from him? The focus tonight should be on Virgil and Ibou Konate. He had some difficult moments, but today he stood out against two very good strikers.”
read more: Dominik Szoboszlai fulfills Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher’s wish amid feud with Mohamed Salahread more: Liverpool make VAR decision on Florian Wirtz after controversial penalty decision against Inter Milan
Van Dijk also addressed the situation surrounding his team-mates, adding: “Obviously it’s difficult, but it’s a collective difficult situation that we’re all in. Obviously there are issues between Mo and the club and that means he’s not here today. That’s the reality, but it doesn’t change our motivation to get a result for the club.”
“Apology? If someone has to apologize, I don’t think it’s necessary for me to talk about it. It’s for him to vent and that’s something the club and I have to deal with.”
“Actually nothing has changed. We have a responsibility. So the focus was there. Nothing has changed and by the way, he was training as well.”
As a result, Liverpool are now in 8th place in the Champions League standings. As things stand, they are good enough to qualify directly for the round of 16, but Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Newcastle United could overtake them if they win their respective matches on Wednesday.
Liverpool face Brighton in their next Premier League game on Saturday (3pm). It was Salah’s last appearance before the Africa Cup of Nations and Van Dijk knew he would have to prepare for a series of games without his star player, regardless of what happens next.
“The reality is that Mo will also be going to Africa for the weekend,” the captain said. “I’ve known Mo for a long time and we’ve been through a lot, good times and bad, and we have a big part in this at LFC, so we talk, and those kinds of things naturally stay indoors.
“And we are pushing ourselves as a team of players and fighting against the outside noise, and we encourage our players to listen.”
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