ReactionArne Slot discusses Champions League qualification, season review, and farewells to Robertson and Salah

The Reds entered their final Premier League fixture of the 2025-2026 season at Anfield needing just a single point to guarantee a top-five finish.

Curtis Jones found the net just before the hour mark, a goal later canceled out by Kevin Schade, ultimately securing fifth place after an emotionally charged day marking the final Liverpool appearances for the brilliant careers of Robertson and Salah.

Dive into the detailed insights from Slot’s concluding post-match press conference of the season below.

On the match, Liverpool secured the necessary point for Champions League qualification…

“Once again, we didn’t achieve the result our performance merited, which has been a consistent pattern throughout this season. We truly deserved to win, though, in the 100th minute, we could have even lost it. We’ve witnessed this scenario so many times this campaign – creating opportunities for a winning goal, only for the opposition to get a serious chance, like that header, deep into stoppage time. This time, it didn’t go in, unlike many other occasions this season.

So, I believe it was another game that mirrored many of our previous encounters. I recall it took them nearly 40 minutes to even enter our penalty area for the first time – perhaps a slight exaggeration, but we completely dominated the first half. Yet, from a simple throw-in, they created their initial chance. And yes, set pieces have been another significant talking point for us this season.”

Reflecting on the entire season…

“Our objective today was to achieve the minimum requirement, which was to qualify for the Champions League. As you can observe from the league standings, major clubs sometimes fail to secure Champions League or even European qualification. In this league, big teams have missed out on Europe in recent seasons, so we can never take this achievement for granted. However, it’s clear and undeniable that we aspired for more. Nevertheless, I am incredibly proud of the players and what they accomplished this season, as it has been an exceptionally challenging campaign for us, enduring numerous obstacles and a significant number of injuries.

Ultimately, securing Champions League football and a fifth-place finish, while also reaching the FA Cup final after a tough away loss to Manchester City – a feat many teams experience – and falling to Paris Saint-Germain for the second consecutive year, a team no other side has managed to defeat over two legs in the past two years (Chelsea did in Club World Cup and perhaps Arsenal in a final, but not over two matches), is something to acknowledge. So, while this isn’t exactly what I envisioned for our season before it began, considering everything we’ve faced this campaign, I am content today that we have qualified for the Champions League.”

Regarding the reception given to Robertson and Salah by the supporters…

“It was magnificent, as our fans always deliver. They absolutely received the send-off they deserved. These are two legends who have amassed nine trophies over the past nine years. So, for them, it must have been a profoundly special day, likely a difficult one too, but certainly memorable, and the supporters undoubtedly made it unforgettable for them. I believe I’ve stated this often: this club understands how to celebrate a championship, how to navigate tragedies, and most certainly how to honor these two exceptional players.”

On whether there was anything he might have approached differently throughout the season…

“Oh yes, many aspects. I, and we, were not flawless, but I would have answered that question in precisely the same manner even in the year we won the championship, because as a manager, one can never be perfect, nor can a player. However, every decision I made throughout the season was rooted in a single principle: thorough preparation. Therefore, no decision I took was ever made with the thought, ‘Oh, I’m short on time, let’s just make this choice.’

No, I always gave them considerable thought. And, as you know, not every decision can turn out to be the right one. It would be foolish of me to sit here and claim that all my decisions were perfect. But before I implemented them, I always believed they were the correct ones to make at that moment. More often than not, I didn’t even have the luxury of making many decisions or choices because this particular match was perhaps the first time all season where we didn’t have a single Academy player on our bench – that was truly an anomaly. So, if you were to ask me for one word to encapsulate this season, I would undoubtedly describe it as ‘injuries.'”