Liverpool suffered their most significant blow of the season with , but there is so much left on offer for the Reds.
Arne Slot's side sit 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League table, and will look to secure the Dutchman's first trophy of his reign in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on Sunday.
But all of this is going on in the face of , and Slot was somewhat taken aback when confronted with the issue of the contracts in the immediate aftermath of the loss to PSG.
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So what are the answers to the big issues at Anfield? Our chief sports writer Andy Dunn has taken a look...
Will the penalty shootout failure have any effect on Arne Slot’s side as they prepare to face Newcastle United at Wembley?There will be some physical ramifications from the PSG game, with Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the Carabao Cup final after limping out of the Champions League match. With Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley also both out injured, that means Arne Slot is short of right-sided defenders and that could see Jarell Quansah getting a starting chance.
And as the 120 minutes drew to a close on Tuesday night, quite a few Liverpool players looked to be feeling the demands of a very busy season. Newcastle United’s extra 24 hours of preparation is relatively insignificant - and they have their own availability issues - but, physically and mentally, the PSG double-header will have taken a lot of Slot’s men. Don’t expect them to be gung-ho on Sunday.
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Will the Champions League exit have any bearing on the futures of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah?
In a practical way, yes. Whether or not Liverpool had gone all the way in the Champions League would not have swayed the eventual decisions but the early departure from the competition could speed up the process.
The word from inside Anfield is that executives are growing impatient with the continuing impasse and once the Carabao Cup final is done and dusted, they expect talks to intensify, especially as the Premier League title is a formality. And, clearly, Arne Slot’s planning for next season needs to start in earnest when Liverpool’s 20th top-flight crown is sorted.
And of the three big names who will soon be out of contract, who is staying? And who is leaving?
Reliable sources in Madrid continue to assert that Trent Alexander-Arnold will arrive at the Bernabeu in the summer and an imminent new deal for Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich will take him off the Real radar. Trent is certainly the most likely to leave. Virgil van Dijk has said anyone suggesting he is close to signing a new deal is “lying” but there seems to be an optimism behind the scenes that the Dutchman will be captaining the club next season.
Mohamed Salah’s direction of travel, though, is the hardest to predict. There is no doubt that he was expected in the Saudi Pro League last summer and that will be a destination for the Egyptian at some point. But his sparkling season and another Premier League medal could yet persuade him to extend his time at Anfield.
Aside from sorting the contract stalemates, what will be Liverpool’s priorities in the transfer market this summer?Liverpool’s imperious Premier League form and another stellar season from Mohamed Salah has camouflaged one or two issues that Arne Slot will feel he needs to address. And while his team are the Premier League’s top scorers - by some considerable margin - Slot will tell his recruitment experts to scour the world for fresh striking blood, whether or not Salah stays.
Their chances have not been excessive but Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez - whose attitude was called out by his manager last month - have not been overly impressive over the past few months and Slot will fancy acquiring a blue-chip forward in the window. Expect central defensive back-up to arrive even if Van Dijk signs a new deal.
Will the relatively early Champions League exit, coming after interest in the FA Cup ended, put a bit of a dampener on Slot’s first season as Liverpool boss?
Absolutely not. The vagaries of the new Champions League format meant Liverpool got a tough round-of-16 draw and were only just pipped by a good PSG side. They have to recover from that setback quickly but are still strong odds-on favourites to beat Newcastle United at Wembley and win the Carabao Cup.
With the Premier League likely to be sealed sooner rather than later, that would mean two trophies in Slot’s first season, a fine achievement by anyone’s standards. Winning the Premier League remains the priority for all clubs but the Dutch manager’s one regret might be that he didn’t pick a stronger side for that FA Cup defeat at Plymouth Argyle.
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