Arne Slot’s stunned reaction after being asked about Mo Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract situations straight after Liverpool are knocked out of the Champions League on penalties

Arne Slot couldn’t believe he was asked about the contract situation of three star players in the immediate aftermath of Liverpool‘s gut-wrenching Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Reds were dumped out of Europe’s premier competition on penalties, with the game forced to spot-kicks after Ousmane Dembele‘s early goal cancelled out Liverpool’s advantage from the first leg.

Gianluigi Donnarumma came up trumps in the shootout, taken in front of Anfield’s away end, denying Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez from the spot to catapult the Parisiens into the quarter-finals.

A rare low point of a season that before tonight had only had its highs, Slot couldn’t help but fume when a reporter posed him with the same recurring question about the futures of Mo Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold as he continued to come to terms with defeat.

‘It is creative to come up with the contract situation,’ he said. ‘That is the last thing I am thinking of. 

‘Liverpool showed themselves and hopefully they have more luck next year.’

It was a dramatic ending to a breathtaking last-16 tie between two European heavyweights

Arne Slot was not happy to see post-match talk veer back to a recurring issue of contracts

The contracts of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold have been a fascinating subplot of Liverpool’s success this year, with all three expiring this summer.

With the trio representing the spine of Liverpool’s team – the captain, the talisman and the creator – Reds fans have been waiting on tenterhooks for at least one of them to pen a new deal.

However, nothing significant has been heard from Liverpool’s official channels on the matter as of yet.

Focus on Merseyside will nevertheless be on Tuesday’s damning result, with one of the tournament favourites crashing out in the most painful fashion.

Having topped the league phase, Liverpool would have felt hard done by coming into the tie after drawing one a fellow Champions League top contender in PSG.

And despite scraping through the away leg with a ‘smash and grab’ 1-0 win, Luis Enrique’s side were too hard to break down at Anfield, putting an end to Slot’s hopes of a domestic and European double.

‘We ran out of luck after last week,’ Slot added. ‘After 90 minutes for me it felt clear we deserved more. 

‘I was waiting for us to score. They threatened up once or twice in the second half and we played the perfect game apart form us scoring, it was the same for them last week. In extra time maybe they were stronger.

Darwin Nunez was the first to miss in the shootout as Liverpool crashed out of Europe

Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring for PSG on 12 minutes after early Liverpool pressure

Slot feels Liverpool’s luck ran out against PSG after relying on good fortune in the first leg

‘I have never seen them as intense and aggressive as today. If you put so much effort in and don’t get reward, it is sometimes difficult.

‘It feels a bit unfair to go out in this round already. If you are top then face a tough team like PSG, but that is a nice part of football. Everyone around the world enjoys watching this game.

‘Last week we had some luck but we didn’t have it today. Now it is clear what we have to do for the rest of the season.’

Liverpool will now turn focus solely to domestic competitions as they stare down the barrel of a Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on Sunday.

They will look to shake off disappointment from Tuesday and prevail at Wembley to secure their first piece of silverware of the season.

The Reds are also well on course for Premier League glory this season and are 15 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with nine games to play.

Slot’s side need a maximum of five wins and a draw from their remaining fixtures to by crowned league champions for a record-equalling 20th time.