10/03/2025

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Malaysian Paper SCAN ME Roasted Reds respond Slot ‘went for us’ in dressing room after lacklustre first half, says Salah M OHAMED SALAH has opened up on the dressing down he and his Liverpool teammates received at the hands of Arne Slot. The Reds boss was serving the second of a two-match touchline ban during “If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League you have to win games like this. “The manager was a bit frustrated. Southampton had a good game plan. energy levels were far, far, far too low. “That had to change and that is why we made three substitutions, apart from energy to bring in quality. against Southampton. “I think Paris St Germain showed the right example. They played Lille in incredible intensity, 4-0 up at halftime. MONDAY | MAR 10, 2025

“Then they played against us and that intensity, I haven’t seen that before in any game this season. “So when I look at the game against Paris St Germain, we have to go one step up in terms of intensity. “And if I compare it with the game today, we have to go three, four, five, six, seven steps up in terms of the intensity if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round.” Meanwhile, Southampton, facing Premier League relegation, had their manager Ivan Juric criticising the decision to award Liverpool a penalty after Will Smallbone’s challenge on Nunez, which he deemed “soft”. Salah scored the spot-kick to make it 2-1 to the home team just three minutes after Nunez’s equaliser. “I think the penalty was not a penalty and that changed the match,” he asserted. “I don’t like this decision. “The contact was too soft to be a penalty. This cannot be a penalty ever.” – Express Newspapers

“That was the only thing I could come up with at halftime to create something different for the second half.” With a 16-point buffer between themselves and Arsenal, at least until the Gunners play at Old Trafford overnight, Liverpool can afford to turn their attention back to Champions League duties. They will carry a slender 1-0 lead into the second leg of their last-16 showdown with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday (4am Malaysian time), having pinched a superb result in the French capital earlier this week.

“We just were slow and taking our time and in the last minute they managed to (go ahead in) the game.” Buoyed by the triple change, Liverpool kept their heads and were in front within 10 minutes of the restart. Darwin Nunez initially levelled before Salah scored twice from the spot to take another big step towards the Golden Boot. Slot is pleased that his hard-line approach paid off in the end. “I didn’t give them compliments at halftime, I can tell you,” explained the Dutchman.

Southampton’s visit to Anfield yesterday, but he saw enough from high in the stands to bomb down to the changing rooms and dish out a halftime dose of the hairdryer treatment. Liverpool were expected to wipe the floor with Southampton, who are on course for one of the worst Premier League points totals of all time. It therefore came as a shock when Will Smallbone put the visitors ahead in first-half stoppage time, leaving the hosts to chase an unlikely deficit after the break. Slot made three halftime substitutions and did not hold back behind the scenes, with Salah admitting “he went for us”. On the dressing room mood at the interval, the Egyptian said: “A bit of frustration. “The manager, his head was like going for us – but that’s something you need sometimes. “We were sloppy and slow in the first half,” Salah added. “I don’t think we played well today.

But Slot issued a stark warning to his squad, demanding a seven times increase in intensity for their upcoming clash with PSG.

“When you watch a game from (up) there (in the stands) you always feel like, ‘Ah, even I can play in this game’ but when you are on the line, there is more tempo. “I don’t think I was wrong if I said at halftime that the

“I think it was maybe the first time this season that I saw this tempo,” Slot remarked about yesterday’s lacklustre effort

7 Djokovic crashes out - p28 Dj k i h Southampton’ keeper Aaron Ramsdale (right) punches the ball to make a save during his team’s Premier League match against Liverpool. – AFPPIC

Damaging defeat - p29 7

No party in Orleans - p31 7

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