Liverpool manager Arne Slot offered a candid assessment of his side’s performance after a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, conceding that the French champions were “by far the better team” at the Parc des Princes.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the 46-year-old Dutch coach said the team would now face ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
“Paris Saint-Germain was by far the better team today and could have scored more than two goals,” Slot said. “But the good thing was that the players of Liverpool today showed fighting spirit, kept going. Every time or almost whenever they had a shot, we had a lot of bodies behind the ball or protecting our box, which was necessary because if you don’t track back, if you don’t run back, these players like the ones from Manchester City can hurt you a lot.”
Slot drew on Liverpool’s experience from last season’s European campaign, reporting that while his side were outplayed in Paris on that occasion as well, they managed to secure a 1-0 victory at home. He is hoping for a similar though more emphatic turnaround this time around.
“We will need to have a better performance, and we definitely need our fans to help us create an atmosphere where we can rise to a better level than we did today,” Slot added.