Slot on Isak, Van Dijk's comments and Reds' 'inconsistent' form

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Wednesday’s Champions League game against Paris St-Germain at Parc des Princes (kick-off 20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

Alexander Isak will not start for the Reds in Paris, but could play some part as the 26-year-old striker returns from injury. “He can play a part otherwise I wouldn’t have taken him [to Paris],” said Slot. “I decided not to take him to the Etihad [against Manchester City on Saturday] because we felt in talks with the player and the medical staff that we were not able to get a performance out of him yet.”
On captain Virgil van Dijk saying Liverpool “gave up” during the 4-0 FA Cup defeat by City: “I think it is good from a captain that he has a strong and firm reaction like that. Hopefully, it is not only just immediately after the game, but we can, as a team, show a strong and firm reaction tomorrow evening.”
Despite the scoreline, Slot said he can take “confidence” from the opening 35 minutes of the City match. “The first 35 minutes gives me confidence we are able to go toe-to-toe against a team that, along with PSG, is one of the best or the best two teams in open play. They are the hardest teams to play against in open play because of their quality and because of the way they are managed,” said Slot.
On facing Luis Enrique’s side: “Paris St-Germain showed last season that they do not give you any second of time to have the ball comfortable at your feet. It is press, press, press every second of the game.”
Slot said “it is nice to get a second chance” after PSG knocked Liverpool out of last year’s Champions League on penalties. He said: “A lot can happen in two games. By the way, we deserved to lose here last season 4-0 [in the last-16 first leg, which Liverpool won 1-0] much more than we deserved to lose 4-0 [against Manchester City]. That game, it was only thanks to Alisson that we didn’t lose 4-0. At Anfield, it wasn’t completely the opposite and it wasn’t as if we deserved to win 4-0, but I think we deserved to win that game.”
On how Liverpool can turn things around after an “inconsistent” season: “I think the answer lies in the history of Liverpool. This club has always shown that in tough moments that they stand up again. We have had a lot of tough moments, we’ve stood up a few times, but then fallen down. This club has shown many times that we can do very special things in difficult circumstances.”