Despite Liverpool’s dominance, the talk at half-time was of Mohamed Salah’s missed penalty. For a man who rarely misses, it was an unusually weak attempt and one that would certainly have got the headlines had Liverpool not progressed.
By now, Salah’s hunger for success is clear and it spoke volumes that instantly after his miss, he forced a save from Ugurcan Cakir.
And the Egyptian was involved in all three of Liverpool’s second-half goals to cap off a terrific all-round display.
First, Salah teed up Hugo Ekitike and it was Ryan Gravenberch who finished after Salah’s strike was saved, for Liverpool’s third.
The goal to make it 4-0 was a work of art as the 33-year-old used his left foot to curl a sublime effort into the top corner from outside the box.
“It says a lot about his mentality,” said Slot. “That was a difficult moment [when he missed the penalty] but then to come out in the second half with a great assist for Hugo and then score a trademark goal coming inside and finding the top corner.
“That tells you a lot about his mental strength, so credit to him and the whole team because adversity is something we can talk about when it comes to this season.”
Salah could have easily had more on a night where he became the first African to score 50 Champions League goals and recorded his 200th and 201st goal involvements for Liverpool at Anfield in all competitions (140 goals, 61 assists) in just 211 appearances.
There was some concern when Salah asked to be substituted in the 74th minute, with Slot saying afterwards that he had felt something.
But this was another timely reminder of his sheer class. Salah’s numbers alone are stupendous and whether or not he is still a Liverpool player come next season, there is little doubt that Liverpool have a stronger chance of knocking out PSG with him fit and firing.
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