JAKARTA - Lverpool managed to get up and get back on track when they didn't play Mohamed Salah. In the Champions League match at the San Siro Stadium, Milan, Wednesday, December 10, 2025 in the morning WIB, Liverpool beat the hosts Inter Milan 1-0.
Salah was not sent back when Liverpool visited Inter headquarters. Not only did he not enter the squad, nor did he be brought to Milan when Liverpool played away matches.
As his colleagues tried to get back on track after reaping bad results for being detained by Leeds United 3-3 in the English Premier League, Salah was seen undergoing training alone.
He uploaded a photo while alone in the club's gym. The Egyptian national team captain's action again caused controversy and noise within the club. Moreover, previously Salah said, "her self was thrown under the bus". The statement was made after Salah was no longer the first choice and was blocked by Slot.
Instead of inviting sympathy, Salah's actions when taking selfies alone at the fitness center were the target of criticism. British media The Sun wrote Salah was like a naughty school boy who was punished by a teacher when his friends enjoyed playing games and walking around.
Manager Arne Slot also showed that after there was no Salah, Liverpool actually played better. Especially after Slot changed the team play scheme.
At first, the 4-4-2 scheme became an option and led Liverpool to win the Premier League title last season. Salah also showed maximum performance so that he got a new contract from the club. The contract, which will expire in 2027, will at the same time erase Liverpool's rumors of releasing Salah to the Saudi Arabian club.
But now the rumors will come true and the Reds will most likely strike Salah at the end of the competition season.
How could I not, when Slot tried to stick with the 4-4-2 scheme this season, the team's performance and Salah fell apart. Now, he uses a 4-3-3 scheme when appearing at the San Siro. As a result, Inter won narrowly one goal even though it was through the penalty spot.
Ironically, the only Liverpool goal was produced by Dominik Szoboszlai who replaced Salah as the penalty taker. The 1-0 victory relieved Slot because his position was already threatened following the team's poor results in the Premier League.
Even the hope of The Pool defending the league title is almost certain to be dashed. Liverpool are still stuck in 10th place and 10 points behind leaders Arsenal.
However, the victory over Inter not only brought Liverpool to eighth place as well as into the automatic qualifying zone to the knockout round. However, the confidence of the players could be boosted because they were able to beat one of the strong teams in the Italian Serie A. The increasingly meaningful victory was achieved by Liverpool at home to the opponent.
We were three points behind Inter when we started the match. So the best thing to do is win here [San Siro]. It must be admitted they are a good team. But overall we showed the best performance," said Slot as quoted by UEFA.
"We will not ask for more if we witness their outstanding performance against Inter who fielded the strongest team. Players show mentality and this is a very satisfying result," said the former Feyenoord coach.
Despite losing at home, Inter's position is safe enough and remains in the top eight. Having the same points as Liverpool, the Nerazzurri are still ahead of the goal difference so they are in sixth place. Only Inter's position is not yet safe because they will play two games that are not easy against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. However, Inter still have the chance to beat Arsenal who may not field the best squad because they have already qualified for the knockout round.
In that big match, Slot fielded the duo of strikers Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak. Liverpool, who have won only four of their last 15 matches in various competitions, actually started the game inconclusively. However, Inter failed to put pressure on Liverpool. Not a single kick from Inter players was aimed at the goal.
Liverpool slowly began to rise and show attacking performances. Even Liverpool had the lead during Ibrahima Konate's header in front of Inter's hardline supporters, Curva Nord, successfully broke into the host's goal in the 32nd minute.
But the referee reviewed the goal through VAR. Long enough because referee Felix Zwayer took almost four minutes to observe the incident. As a result, the goal was disallowed because Ekitike was declared to have touched the ball in the process of creating the goal.
Cancel conceded makes Inter rise and become more aggressive in suppressing Liverpool's defense. A good chance was obtained by captain Lautaro Martinez to score. However, his header which welcomed defender Alessandro Bastoni's cross was thwarted by goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
In the second half, Inter and Liverpool drew. They took turns putting pressure on the opponent's defense. Liverpool had a hard time facing the solid defense of Cristian Chivu's troops. However, the visitors finally got a chance through Conor Bradley. It's just that his shot was saved by goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
When the match is expected to end in a draw, Liverpool will have a chance after Florian Wirtz, who came in to replace Isak, was brought down by Bastoni in the penalty box. The referee again reviewed the incident via VAR. As a result, Bastoni was declared to have committed a foul and the referee pointed to the spot.
The penalty execution is usually done by Salah. But now Szoboszlai did it. The Hungarian national team player successfully completed the execution and put Liverpool 1-0 up in 86 minutes. There were no more goals and the score lasted until the game was over.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
