Wirtz denies Liverpool ‘gave up’ in Manchester City loss
Isak could return off bench after four months out injured
Arne Slot has warned Liverpool will suffer another emphatic defeat should they switch off against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday evening but believes his toiling team can save their season by going “toe-to-toe” with the European champions.
The pressure on Liverpool and their head coach has intensified following Saturday’s 4-0 capitulation against Manchester City in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Florian Wirtz disagreed with the captain Virgil van Dijk’s damning assessment that Liverpool “gave up” at the Etihad Stadium, but both the £116m playmaker and Slot admitted there can be no repeat of that performance at Parc des Princes.
Slot, who will have Alexander Isak on the bench after four months out injured, claimed Luis Enrique’s team have improved since winning PSG’s first Champions League title last season and will punish any lapses from Liverpool. He challenged his players to “stand up again” and respond to the City embarrassment immediately.
“It’s not the first time we have 15-20 minutes in a game where we don’t play our best football and it is not the first time we immediately get punished by a goal, sometimes one or two,” Slot said of Saturday’s collapse. “This time it was four, the only four chances we gave up by the way. But the first 35 minutes gives me a lot of confidence that we can go toe-to-toe with teams [like City] and PSG who, for me, are the hardest to play against in open play. I have to say it like that, because of their quality and the way they are managed.
“But I can tell you that if we have the 20 minutes we had at City here, we will again concede four goals because these PSG players know how to act if we are having a 20-minute period like that. So it is a challenge for us to be from the first to the last second at the level we were at in the first 35 minutes. If not, it is going to be a really hard night, like it was on Saturday. Last year [in the Champions League last 16] we completely deserved to lose 4-0 here or maybe more, but that is the beauty of football that we scored a goal in the 85th minute and it was almost like this was a robbery.”
Slot claimed he had no issue with Van Dijk’s analysis of the City defeat: “It was good that the captain has a strong and firm reaction after a game like that. We have to have a strong and firm reaction too.” That sentiment was not shared by Wirtz, however, who claimed to be unaware of Van Dijk’s comment about the team giving up at a certain point against City and in disagreement with it.
“I didn’t know about this, that he said this, but I think I would not agree directly because we still tried to create chances to turn the game around,” said the Germany international. “Of course when the game gets longer and you are 3-0 back or something in the 80th minute [it was 4-0 after 57 minutes] then mentally it is difficult to go and go. At 3-0 and 4-0 we still had a few chances but this is not our standards that we lose 4-0 against City.
“We still believe in ourselves. We have a good group with good characters and great players, also a good manager who tries to prepare us good for the game. The second game at home is maybe an advantage so we try to do our best and come with a good result to Anfield.”
Liverpool have won only once in five matches, at home to Galatasaray in the last-16 second leg at Anfield, and the manner of the FA Cup defeat – with four goals conceded in 18 minutes and fans streaming for the exits after 57 minutes – invited the question of whether the team is still playing for Slot. “Yes of course we are believing in the manager,” replied Wirtz.
“The team should believe in the manager because they won the league last season. We had a lot of good games this season. We wanted it to be better but we still have things to play for. Everything I can see is that we believe in the manager and we will give our best on the pitch tomorrow.”
Both Wirtz and Slot made frequent mentions of keeping the tie alive for next week’s second leg at Anfield and the head coach could make changes – in personnel and formation – in response to the City defeat. But what can pull Liverpool out of their slump, Slot maintained, is character. “This club has always shown that they stand up again in tough moments,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of tough moments this season and stood up a few times, but then fallen down again. So we have to show that mentality again of just keep going and picking yourself up after a disappointment.
“It is easier said than done but this group has shown many times it can come back after setbacks. And this club has done it many, many times. Apart from the quality my team has – and PSG has too – my team has shown many times in big games, with the exception of twice at the Etihad, that we can compete with the best teams in Europe.”
