Sports
Slot unsure on Salah solution as Liverpool dispute takes shine from Inter win
Arne Slot questioned how best to approach the heated Mohamed Salah situation, with concerns that the dispute will take focus away from Liverpool’s impressive win over Inter.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty secured a much-needed 1-0 victory at San Siro on Tuesday, though much of the pre-match discussion surrounded the Liverpool boss and Salah.
Having been left on the bench for a third straight game in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United, the Egyptian winger’s fiery post-match interview in the mixed zone left questions over his Liverpool future.
Salah suggested his relationship with manager Slot had deteriorated, and claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club in a hardly believable admission in front of the media.
Slot subsequently decided to leave Salah on Merseyside for the Champions League trip, but could not avoid an inevitable line of questioning over his star forward’s outburst.
“It should be about what we’ve done over here. I fully understand that on Friday, in the press conference, all the questions will be about Mo,” Slot acknowledged in his post-match interview.
“Everyone makes mistakes in life, but does the player know he’s made a mistake? Should the initiative come from him or me? That’s another question.”
2009 – Liverpool have won an away UEFA Champions League match without Mohamed Salah featuring for the first time since November 2009 at Debrecen, in what was Jamie Carragher’s last ever Champions League match for the club. Choreographed. pic.twitter.com/IbSeymbWbC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 9, 2025
Salah was speaking after Ao Tanaka’s last-gasp equaliser secured an unexpected turnaround for Leeds, who had seemed out of the game after Hugo Ekitike’s second-half double.
His actions that followed the draw at Elland Road left Liverpool without Salah featuring in a Champions League game for just the third time since he joined the club in 2017.
“I separate these things. It was really hard for the players to concede in the last minute at Leeds,” Slot continued. “We hardly conceded a chance, and it was really hard to take.
“That was already emotional, and what happened afterwards was emotional. 13 players were available that had Premier League or Champions League experience.
“You concede, and then a lot of things are being said. Normally, that affects players as well, because he’s been so influential for the club and the players, so it’s never nice when something happens to their team-mates.”
Liverpool still managed to overcome Inter for their first away win in the competition without Salah being involved since November 2009 against Debreceni VSC.
“We were three points behind Inter, and if you want top eight, 15 is the minimum you need,” Slot added on the result.
“The best you can do is win over here. They have a really good team. But overall, a good performance from us.”
