LIVERPOOL: After Liverpool head coach Arne Slot claimed his side were ‘lucky’ to get away with a win against Paris Saint Germain in the first leg of the Round of 16, the Dutchman has now stated a lot of their luck has to do with the hard work the side puts in on daily basis.
For virtually the entire 90 minutes at the Parc des Princes, Liverpool were dominated by PSG, only for an extraordinary performance from Alisson to inspire a late smash-and-grab winner from substitute Harvey Elliott.
PSG's 71 per cent possession and 27 shots on the night compared to Liverpool’s two ultimately counted to nothing as the Reds secured a famous victory.
"If you want to win something, if it’s the Premier League or the League Cup, the Champions League or the FA Cup, you need to have once in a while, a game where you don't play your best football and you are lucky, which is maybe not luck if you work as hard as we do, to get away with a result.
"There are no teams that play 38 games that play only good football. Real Madrid is one of the best examples of that, they also find a way to win a game if the other team is better than them, ” said Slot in a press conference.
Cody Gakpo has yet to return to training from injury and will be assessed ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Southampton on Saturday. The forward travelled to Paris Saint-Germain for the Reds’ Champions League tie in midweek but was not named in Arne Slot’s matchday squad.
Slot revealed Gakpo’s availability remains up in the air. “He didn’t train yesterday yet, so let’s see if he can train with us today. Again, [a] close call it will probably be. It’s not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday so he was not able to train. Let’s see where he is today, so I can’t give you the answer yet, " he added.