Arne Slot explains Salah benching as Liverpool fall to Galatasaray in UEFA Champions League

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has explained his decision to leave the Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah, out of the starting XI in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League league phase.

The Reds slipped to a narrow loss in Istanbul after Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen struck the only goal of the game in the second round of fixtures.

Speaking to Amazon Prime Video, Slot revealed that Salah’s omission was part of a wider rotation strategy:
“We talked about the matches ahead of us. In just a few days we have another very important game away at Chelsea,” the Dutchman said.

He added: “We need to make use of the whole squad, and making use of players doesn’t always mean from the very beginning.”

Slot also recalled Salah’s impact as a substitute in the past, referencing his memorable hat-trick against Rangers in 2022:
“The last time he came off the bench, he scored three goals. That was against Rangers when Giovanni van Bronckhorst was their coach, and now he is our assistant here at Liverpool. We talked about that as well.”

On that occasion, Salah netted a historic six-minute treble in a 7-1 victory at Ibrox – the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history (6 minutes and 12 seconds).

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