Slot: Paris Enrique doesn’t give you a chance… and this is Isaac’s stance

“Isaac has been training with the team for about a week so that he can play; otherwise, I wouldn’t have included him,” said Slot at the press conference ahead of the Paris match.

He added: “We spoke with the player and the coaching staff, so we thought he would be ready to play now, but not as a starter. Let’s be clear.”

Isaac suffered a serious injury last December during the Premier League match against Tottenham and has been sidelined ever since.

Speaking about the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City last Saturday in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Slott said: “Sometimes in a football match, you want to do things a certain way, but you can’t for various reasons, including, of course, conceding goals when you think you’re playing well and in control of the game.”

He added, according to Liverpool’s official website: “Usually, the most painful moments in football are just before the end of the first half and immediately afterwards. So, you go into the dressing room at half-time, having felt for long periods of the match that you were a strong match for Manchester City, and then you find yourself two goals down.”

He continued: “Then straight after the break, we conceded the third goal, and in the five minutes that followed – during which we had two golden opportunities from Mohamed Salah, by the way – the game was wide open, and the players were struggling. But the good thing for us is that after the fourth goal, City seemed to accept the result, and we had constant possession, but we couldn’t create many chances.”

He added: “I didn’t see the players giving up during that period of the match, and I think it’s also good that the captain’s (Van Dijk) reaction was strong and decisive after a match like this. We hope that doesn’t stop at just immediately after the match, but that we – as a team – can show a strong and decisive reaction tomorrow evening.”

Speaking about the match against Paris Saint-Germain, Slott explained: “We can’t fully compare Paris Saint-Germain to Manchester City, because when we controlled the game and had possession in the first 35 minutes, that was also down to City staying in their positions better and not pressing us as hard.”

He continued: “Whereas Paris Saint-Germain, in recent seasons since Luis Enrique took charge, have shown that they don’t give you any chance to keep possession easily. The pressure is constant throughout the match.”

He continued: “The positive aspect is that we have gained a great deal of experience this year in dealing with setbacks, thanks to all the setbacks we have faced this season.”

He noted: “I think that when you play in the Champions League quarter-finals, it doesn’t really matter where you are in the season – whether you’re still in the FA Cup, the League Cup or even the domestic league – it’s always a special moment. We can never underestimate a Champions League quarter-final, especially if we’re facing the European champions who deservedly won the title last season and are performing exceptionally well this season too.”

He explained: “I don’t focus too much on where we are in the season. I just focus on the challenge itself, and it’s a brilliant challenge, because in football, it’s nice sometimes to get a second chance. In life in general, it’s nice to get a second chance.”

He continued: “As I said, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are very similar, given the quality of their players and their style of play. So, this is another chance for us to prove that we are not the team we were during those 20 minutes at the Etihad Stadium that we’d rather forget, but rather the team we were in the first 35 minutes.”

Read also: Ahead of the Anfield clash... Paris duo and Liverpool trio under threat

Asked about the favourites to reach the Champions League semi-finals, Slot said: “Generally speaking, I don’t think it makes much difference whether there is a clear favourite or not, because it’s just two matches, and things can change a lot over the course of them.”

He added: “I think both teams have outstanding players, and last season they showed they can compete strongly. Incidentally, we deserved to lose 4-0 here last season, and even more so than we deserved to on Saturday by the same score. But in that match, had it not been for Alisson, we would have lost 4-0, and we won 1-0. As for Anfield, it wasn’t entirely different for me. We didn’t deserve to win 4-0, but we deserved to win that match.”

He continued: “But the big difference between these two teams is that Paris Saint-Germain have kept the whole squad together, and I think our team will look completely different – not exactly, but we’ll look completely different from the team that was here last season.”

Liverpool had won 1-0 away at PSG in the Champions League round of 16 last season, before losing by the same score at Anfield to be knocked out on penalties.

When asked whether beating Paris Saint-Germain would give Liverpool a similar boost to the one the French side received from their victory over the Reds on their way to lifting the trophy last season, Slott said: “Well, I’m not thinking that far ahead, especially if we’re up against Paris Saint-Germain. As I said, the European champions, deservedly so, have maintained their team cohesion this season. And as is proven in football, the longer a team plays together, the better they perform.”

He continued: “But as is the case in football, the small details can make a big difference. Who are better at penalties? That’s what made the difference last season for Paris Saint-Germain to beat us and then win the title, and usually a team needs to win on penalties to win a title. The same applies to the World Cup and the Champions League.”

He continued: “Although I’d like to believe there’s no room for luck in penalties – because you can train for them, prepare for them and do a lot of things – sometimes it can come down to a bit of luck with the goalkeeper, because Gianluigi Donnarumma was brilliant.”