Liverpool were allocated 8,000 supporters for the quarter-final, but the overwhelming majority left before the final whistle. City had already built a four-goal lead before the hour mark thanks to Erling Haaland’s hat-trick, but Mohamed Salah’s late penalty save made matters worse for the Reds.
Szoboszlai and his teammates trudged over to the few fans who remained after the final whistle, clearly displeased by the criticism leveled at the players. The Hungarian midfielder tried to rally Liverpool’s resilient supporters after another disappointing defeat in what has been an absolutely terrible season.
After many shrugs, Szoboszlai stopped clapping and started gesturing with his arms. The 25-year-old didn’t seem to be able to elicit the reaction he was looking for and was eventually pulled away by Federico Chiesa.
A video of Szoboszlai’s actions went viral on social media, and his supporters were far from impressed. One fan was furious. “The players have no idea how much it costs to go to these games after a week of hard work, when the vast majority of fans are spending the majority of their working-class salaries to attend these games? And it seems like these billionaire players are willing to ask for more support.”
A second person retorted: “Such an arrogant player is bullshit. How can he be prepared to kick out fans who have paid to travel?” A third wrote of X: “Traveling fans pay their wages, applaud and walk down the tunnel. Theater doesn’t work well with supporters.”
After Szoboszlai’s rant, he told TNT Sports he blamed his teammates for not showing enough “fighting spirit.” “We weren’t mentally strong enough,” added the midfielder.
“To be honest, none of us were there to give as much as we could. It’s a tough time, but we have to stick together. We have another chance on Wednesday, but we have to understand that this is not the season we want to end.”
Liverpool face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday for the Champions League quarter-final first leg. Next Saturday, the Reds host Fulham.
