Liverpool boss defends decision to give Isak a run from the beginning on return from injury
Arne Slot has defended his decision to start Alexander Isak for Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain, even though he took the striker off at half time.
Isak, making his first start in four months after recovering from leg and ankle injuries sustained in December, struggled to influence the game and had just five touches before being replaced at the break.
“I said before the game that if you go to extra time and he plays the second half and plays 45 minutes, there are only two minutes in between before extra time comes up for half-an-hour,” Slot said.
“I don’t think that was realistic. To play him for 45 minutes and see at halftime how he feels to add five to 10 minutes to that, that was a possibility today, but because we already had to make the first substitution in the first half, I didn’t want to make the second substitution five minutes after halftime. That’s why I took him off at half time.”
Despite the striker’s limited involvement Slot insisted the decision to start Isak was justified.
“He was twice close to a goal and that’s why you play a striker of his level,” Slot said. “There was one header from a set-piece and one great run in behind Pacho where he was really close to scoring which was eventually offside.
“It’s good to have him back. He was ready and if I thought he wasn’t ready then I wouldn’t have played him.
“If you compare us today to last week, I think it’s fair to say he was completely ready to play otherwise you can’t play a first half as we did, although the second half was even better.”
Isak’s return comes at a crucial time for Liverpool following the injury to Hugo Ekitike, who was stretchered off on the night and is now a doubt for the remainder of the season.
“Hugo, we all saw on the video and clips, that doesn’t look good,” Slot said. “For 88 minutes [before] tonight we have played with Florian [Wirtz], Alex and Hugo. We added about 27 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season. The good thing is Alex is back.”
