Salah bench warming explained in Liverpool defeat

Liverpool manager Arne Slot revealed his decision to bench Egypt forward Mohamed Salah as the Premier League outfit suffered a 2-0 Champions League defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of quarterfinal.

Wednesday night’s game at Parc des Princes was settled in the holders’ favour by goals in either half by Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Slot made two changes to the starting XI with Jeremie Frimpong and Alexis Mac Allister returning in place of Curtis Jones and Salah. Despite starting on the bench, Salah went ahead to miss the entire game.

Salah was benched to save energy

Asked on his decision, Slot told Liverpool website: “I think in the last part of the game, it was more about surviving for us than there was ever a chance that we could score.

“Yeah, you never know, because last season we scored five minutes before the end, Harvey Elliott [scored] when I took Mo off.

“But I think this was a 20, 25 minutes where we were only defending and Mo has so much quality, but for Mo to be 20, 25 minutes defending inside his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for a lot of games that are coming up in the upcoming weeks.”

Salah set to ditch Liverpool

Salah has already indicated his decision to leave the Anfield outfit at the end of the season. Salah is scheduled to bid farewell upon the conclusion of his ninth campaign as a Red and as one of the greatest to have ever worn the shirt.

The forward reached an agreement with the Reds two weeks ago that will see him close a remarkable nine-year chapter at Anfield.

He expressed his wish to make this announcement to the supporters at the earliest possible opportunity to provide transparency about his future due to his respect and gratitude for them.

Salah’s final Anfield appearance for Liverpool is likely to come on the last day of the league season when Brentford visit Merseyside on May 24.