Arne Slot has described Hugo Ekitique’s injury as “really serious” following Liverpool’s Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
On a night when Alexander Isak made a surprise start after a long break, Ekitiche suffered what appeared to be a serious leg injury just before the half-hour mark at Anfield.
The forward fell to the grass with no one nearby, clutching his right ankle and showing visible pain before being treated while surrounded by team-mates.
He was then taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Mohamed Salah, with Slot suggesting the injury was “not good” amid fears he had suffered an Achilles injury.
speaking amazon prime, “He’s not good. We all could see he wasn’t good. He went home in the second half, so we haven’t seen him yet,” Slot said.
“Losing a game is difficult, but losing a player again is something we’ve experienced several times this season. It’s very difficult for him this season.”
In his post-game press conference, Slott added: “It looks really bad, but it’s hard to say how bad it is. Tomorrow we’ll look further into how bad this is for him.
“Let’s see. But I’m sure it doesn’t look good.”
Ekitiche has scored 19 goals for Liverpool and France this season and, if fit, is likely to feature for his country at this summer’s World Cup.
Ibrahima Konate said: “I feel very sad for him. I think it is a bad thing.
“I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of things, but I don’t want to talk about it, because everything is very difficult for him right now with the World Cup ahead of him this summer. I send him my prayers and everything.”
Increased slots with Liverpool display
Meanwhile, Slot took a positive note from Liverpool’s run to the Champions League quarter-finals.
United went into the second leg having climbed the mountain having completely outplayed the first leg at the Parc des Princes last Wednesday, where the holders’ superiority was not reflected in the 2-0 scoreline.
PSG’s missed chances left Anfield dreaming of a famous comeback, but a key intervention and controversial penalty cancellation thwarted a much-improved Liverpool side.
Ousmane Dembele’s second-half brace eventually sealed PSG’s 2-0 second-leg win and booked their place in the semi-finals with a 4-0 aggregate win, but Slot was given hope on a night when Liverpool’s route to the final title ended.
Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring against Liverpool.
“Compared to last week we have made a lot of progress,” the Liverpool manager said. “We have to give the players a lot of credit for how hard they worked.
“We have to give a lot of credit to the fans who helped us execute our game plan tonight. If we are under pressure it is very helpful to have the fans behind us to keep pushing.
“Unfortunately this is one of many instances this season where we have not scored despite the many chances we had.
“Again, we have underperformed so far in terms of xG (expected goals) and this has continued throughout the season.
“Add to that it appears to be a serious injury (to Ekitike), we are not sure yet. Add to that another VAR intervention, which was not in our favor and not for the first time this season.
“Of course we were very disappointed because there were parts of the second half where we felt if we could score it would have been a special night, but the future looks very bright for this team because we showed that we can compete with the European champions in our own stadium and be a dominant team.
“There are not many teams that can dominate against Paris Saint-Germain and create as many chances as we do. But the chances are one and the goals are two.”
Liverpool’s attention has shifted from pursuing Champions League glory to ensuring qualification for next season’s competition as the Premier League campaign resumes with a derby at Everton on Sunday. sky sports.
Sunday, April 19th at 1pm
Kickoff at 2pm
‘Slots have to be qualified to keep their CL jobs’
tim sherwood to sky sports:
“Liverpool were the better team tonight.
“I still think it was a penalty (for Liverpool). There was contact with the back of the leg. He deserved to have been brought down by that contact.”
“If they play like that they will 100% qualify for the Champions League.
“We lost this tie in the first leg. Why didn’t we go down there and give it a try?”
“Arne Slot needs to qualify for the Champions League if he wants to keep his job.
“But he should be encouraged by his performance in the second half.”
