Arne Slot says "it was the best game of football" he's ever witnessed despite elimination

Tuesday's Champions League knock-out game between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain will go down in history as one of the most exciting Champions League knock-outs in history. Two teams that were favourites for the title, that faced off too soon, and it didn't disappoint football fans... but the blow has been huge for Liverpool, after such an outstanding season in which they could still win Premier League and EFL Cup.

Arne Slot, Liverpool's manager, said prior to the game that he hoped his team brought out the best performance of the year. And judging by his words post-game, despite the defeat on penalties, he was pleased with what he saw: "It was the best game of football I was ever involved in. I don't have the history like Liverpool as a manager, but it was two teams of an incredible level at an incredible intensity. It was unbelievable what we showed in the first 25."

Slot thinks that they didn't deserve to lose this game after 90 minutes. "Over 180 minutes, maybe it was deserved that we went to overtime. In overtime I thought Paris Saint-Germain was a bit better than us in this half-hour".

He also is proud of how Liverpool has improved: last year they didn't compete at all and two seasons they were eliminated by Real Madrid 5-2 at home. "If - if, if - you have to go out then go out in the way like we did against one of the best teams in Europe, making such a fight out of it."

Slot also feels that "there was only one team" in the second half and they were fresher, asked on whether the Premier League game on the weekend influenced the team and fatigue (PSG opted for using more substitutes during their Ligue 1 game last weekend). He also lamented that, after playing a near perfect League Phase, winning seven out of eight games, they got paired against a strong team such as PSG. "Maybe it would be more fair that after the round in between, the one that wins the league table plays against the team that is lowest position after the teams have played".