Mohamed Salah had been papering over a lot of cracks for Liverpool this season.
The 32-year-old has 27 goals and 17 assists in the Premier League. The fact the Reds are 15 points clear at the top of the table is largely down to his exploits in the final third.
No other Liverpool player has netted double digits in the English top-flight yet and Trent Alexander-Arnold is second for assists with six.
Across two legs of the tie against Paris Saint-Germain, the Liverpool No11 struggled.
In Paris, he was barely involved. Salah attempted just 22 passes, he failed to complete a single dribble, he had zero shots and created zero chances.
At Anfield, he was better, but still nowhere near as impactful as he has been all season. Across the 120 minutes on Tuesday evening, he had four shots and was unlucky not to score two early goals.
He created two chances too. He faded though as the match progressed.
The forward had two efforts inside of the first six minutes and then had to wait until after the hour mark for his third. His last shot of the match arrived in extra time. He completed just three of his seven attempted dribbles and won six of his 16 duels.
Nuno Mendes had the better of Salah. In these situations, others need to step up. In the past, Sadio Mane would’ve helped drag Liverpool over the line or Roberto Firmino would’ve popped up with a moment of magic.
The Reds had three match-winners in their forward line. They had three game-breakers. They had multiple ways to overcome opponents.
Now, though, not so much.
Cody Gakpo has stepped up this season but he was only fit enough for a place on the bench against PSG at Anfield. When he was introduced, it was clearly with penalties in mind because he was barely able to move.
Arne Slot named Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota in attack alongside Salah.
Diaz huffed and puffed but didn’t really do much with possession. He completed the most dribbles of anyone (five) but had the least number of touches of any outfield player to play the full 90 minutes (54). He had just three shots and created one chance, while completing 67% of his attempted passes.
He’d beat an opponent and then do nothing. And that sums up his Liverpool career. He’s never had that killer instinct required to be an elite inside forward.
Jota, meanwhile, was a ghost.
He attempted 17 passes, finding a teammate 71% of the time, during the 71 minutes he was on the pitch. The Portugal international attempted three shots and missed a big chance.
He failed to create a chance, he didn’t complete a single dribble and he won just two of his nine duels.
Most didn’t have Jota in their predicted XI heading into this game after Darwin impressed against Southampton last weekend. The No9 scored the equaliser and won the first penalty for the Reds.
The former Wolves man had struggled against PSG in the first-leg, too, so it was a surprise to see his name on the starting team sheet.
This was an opportunity for him to impress.
It was an opportunity he did not take. It has been a similar story all season.
Darwin was given the chance to make himself a hero. He, too, fluffed his lines.
He spent 50 minutes on the pitch, attempting eight passes and had zero shots. He messed up chances with Salah and Diaz, didn’t carve out a single opportunity for teammates and failed to complete the one dribble he attempted.
The chaotic Uruguayan won just 25% of his ground duels.
It wasn’t necessarily a chance to save his Liverpool career, he looks set to leave in the summer, but it was an opportunity for him to leapfrog ahead of Jota in the pecking order for the remainder of the season.
That now looks unlikely. The penalty miss will likely shatter his confidence. It was already fairly fragile.
Federico Chiesa didn’t even get off of the bench. Slot, instead, favoured an unfit Gakpo for the final few moments. A sure sign that the Italy international isn’t even in the manager’s thinking.
There’s a very real possibility that Diaz, Darwin, Jota and Chiesa all leave Liverpool this summer.
You can also make the case for Harvey Elliott being moved on. The one-time Fulham youngster was only brought on in extra time despite scoring the winner against the French side last week and changing the game against Southampton.
Slot, clearly, doesn’t trust him. And if a manager doesn’t trust a player, they’re worthless to them.
Big changes are on the horizon at Anfield. Liverpool need to assemble an attack that is feared. Right now, only Salah is viewed as a problem by the opposition.
This is the last dance for this forward line. It is the last dance for this squad as a whole with Virgil van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold all out of contract this season.
There’s also talk that Alisson could leave while Andrew Robertson is expected to be replaced.
If these Liverpool legends are to go out on a high, the attack needs to start firing.
The Carabao Cup final on Sunday gives those in the forward line a perfect opportunity to redeem themselves and perhaps right a few wrongs.
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