Didn t finish training Arne Slot says star will not play in Galatasaray vs Liverpool match

Liverpool manager Arne Slot made statements at the press conference held at RAMS Park before the Galatasaray-Liverpool match.

Liverpool, who lost to Crystal Palace with a last minute goal in their last match in the Premier League, arrived in Istanbul demoralized. This is how Arne Slot evaluated the Galatasaray match.

PALACE DEFEAT

Stating that they were not affected by their 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace, the Dutch coach said, "If you want to win trophies, you have to give your best in every game. You must always play your best football."

"POSSESSION IS NOT OUR FIRST GOAL"

Slot said that they added star players in the summer transfer window and added: "We have important strikers. We had an unbelievable tragedy with the death of Diogo Jota. We were thinking of buying a replacement for Darwin Nunez. Because of this tragedy, we bought two strikers for the team. We have always added good players to the squad."

Slot noted that they play football to score goals and added: "Possession is not our first aim. Liverpool had possession of the ball before me. Sometimes the opposing teams focus on defense and allow it. All teams are fit now, playing vertically is getting harder and harder in modern football. We have brought in good attacking players. Our front four is working hard to unlock teams that are closing back."

STAR NAME WILL NOT PLAY

Arne Slot has announced that Italian Chiesa will not be available for the game:

"Federico Chiesa tried himself before the Galatasaray game but didn't finish the training session. That's why we didn't include him in the match squad."

GALATASARAY QUOTES

Slot, who stated that he talked to Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the Dutchman who is currently Liverpool's assistant coach and who was previously the technical director of Beşiktaş, about the Galatasaray match, said:

"Giovanni van Bronckhorst knows Turkish football. He even knows Galatasaray better than me. He won a cup against Galatasaray. I always get support from my assistant coaches. I watched the game where Galatasaray lost 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. They were a bit unlucky. They missed goal chances. If that game was played again, Galatasaray wouldn't have conceded five goals. They have conceded only two goals in the Trendyol Super Lig. Galatasaray is a team that knows how to win. They know how to win the match and the championship."

Noting that they have very good defenders, the 47-year-old coach said, "We conceded only 4 goals from set-pieces. I analyze the goals we conceded. When I look at the goals we conceded, our full-backs were not directly at fault. One of the reasons we conceded fewer goals is that all 11 players work for team defense. Set-pieces are a bit different. Last season we were much better at set-pieces, we need to work on that. We were unlucky with some set-pieces. 5-6 games is not a good indicator, but we still need to work on it."

"VERY DIFFICULT OPPONENT FOR US"

Emphasizing that Galatasaray and Crystal Palace are different teams, Slot said, "In the last match, Crystal Palace didn't have the ball too much. The match was going well for us. Then we gave Crystal Palace too many chances and the result was bad for us. We lost the ball when we shouldn't have lost the ball. Galatasaray is a different team than Crystal Palace. It is difficult to beat them. They made 7 in 7 in the Super Lig. Mentally they are very strong. Galatasaray is a difficult opponent for us."

Referring to the importance of set-pieces in football, Slot said: "Set-pieces are a part of the game. In the Brentford-Manchester United match, there were too many crowns and corners. We see this more and more in our league. Galatasaray is successful in set-pieces. When I was a footballer we used to talk only about the flowing game, now it's different. We work especially on set-pieces. This shows the importance of set-pieces," he concluded.

LIVERPOOL IN ISTANBUL

Galatasaray and Liverpool will face each other at Rams Park tomorrow at 22.00 in the 2nd week of UEFA Champions League. Arne Slot's students, who completed their preparations, then departed for Istanbul. The English team departed from Istanbul Airport General Aviation Terminal around 20.30. The players and technical delegation boarded the bus waiting for them and left the airport.