The title-winning glow soon faded for the champions’ manager after tragedy in Spain presaged a dramatic decline on the pitch
The Liverpool forward was returning from his native Portugal to England via car then ferry, on medical advice after having a minor lung operation, and was killed in an accident along with his brother, André Silva, en route to the Spanish port of Santander, on 3 July 2025. Jota’s death, 11 days after teammates attended his wedding to the mother of their three children, deeply affected everyone at the club. The celebrations at the end of May of the club’s title win on the streets of Liverpool had previously been cut short by a man driving a car into the crowds, injuring 134 people, some seriously. What should have been a summer of celebration was overshadowed by tragedies, and Arne Slot had to prepare for the new season against a highly emotional background.
Despite this, after losing the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on penalties Liverpool started the season proper with seven wins, including against Arsenal, several times clinching victory in added time. In the middle of the run, the Reds prised Alexander Isak away from Newcastle for a British record £125m, to cap a remarkable summer of spending, with Florian Wirtz (£116m), Hugo Ekitiké (£69m), Milos Kerkez (£40m) and Jeremie Frimpong (£29.5m) the other major signings. But after Palace scored their own late winner in the league, Chelsea did likewise, and in between the Reds lost 1-0 at Galatasaray in the Champions League. Manchester United then came to Anfield and Harry Maguire headed home a Bruno Fernandes cross in the 84th minute to give the visitors a first away win in the fixture since January 2016. The title defence was crumbling.
On the last weekend before the November international break, Liverpool travelled to Manchester City. A goal down as half-time approached, the Reds thought they had equalised but Virgil van Dijk’s header was controversially disallowed before the captain deflected Nico González’s shot into the net for 2-0. Jérémy Doku made it a 3-0 win. Still, that was away to City … Two weeks later, Nottingham Forest arrived at Anfield one place off the bottom with Sean Dyche under pressure – he was sacked three months later. But remarkably they too ran out 3-0 winners, and four days later PSV Eindhoven came to Merseyside and won 4-1. Liverpool were in disarray.
Slot reacted to the run of defeats by doing what was close to unthinkable: leaving out Mohamed Salah, double footballer of the year the previous season. The rot was stopped with a 2-0 win at West Ham, where the Egyptian spent the entire 90 minutes on the bench. Salah was omitted against promoted Sunderland at Anfield but came on at half-time with the game goalless, though Liverpool could only scrape a 1-1 draw. When he was omitted again at Leeds and not used at all as Liverpool twice threw away leads in a chaotic 3-3 draw, Salah had had enough, launching an astonishing verbal attack on the manager in the mixed zone, albeit without naming Slot.
“I can’t believe … I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,” Salah said. “The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.”
Salah hinted the following week’s game with Brighton, after which he was off to the Africa Cup of Nations, could be his last. Relations were patched up but it was announced on 24 March that he would be leaving at the end of the season.
Isak had forced his way out of Newcastle by not training and had in effect missed pre-season. After completing his move he struggled for fitness and when available came off the bench more often than not. By the time Liverpool went to Tottenham on 20 December, he had one league goal and was yet to play a full game. A half-time substitute with the game goalless, the Swede broke the deadlock by converting a through ball from Wirtz but was caught in the act of shooting by Micky van de Ven, the challenge breaking the striker’s left leg. The £100m+ duo had combined for a goal at last but rather than a sign of good things to come it epitomised an apparently cursed season. The 2-1 win at Spurs was, at least, the sixth game in a 13-match unbeaten run, but Liverpool were rarely convincing for more than 45 minutes at any time.
The title long since written off, Liverpool were bumping along, doing just enough to likely scrape into the Champions League places, but at least reached the quarter-finals of that competition and the FA Cup. Their chances of silverware were firmly extinguished. On 4 April, Erling Haaland – who had often struggled against the Reds – scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup, his third moving Manchester City 4-0 ahead and leading to remarkable scenes as Liverpool in effect gave up with half an hour to go, playing to avoid further humiliation. Paris Saint-Germain then won 2-0 home and away, utterly dominant in the French capital on 8 April and more effective in front of goal in an even match on Merseyside six days later – a game which saw Ekitiké’s promising debut season curtailed by an achilles tendon rupture. There would be no second trophy for Slot coming this season – or, it proved, any season – as Liverpool manager.
