Arne Slot explains Ryan Gravenberch substitution amid Liverpool injury update | OneFootball

Reds seal progress into Champions League knockout stages with win over Lille

Liverpool manager Arne Slot assured supporters his decision to take Ryan Gravenberch off at half-time during Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Lille was pre-planned.

With the Reds having failed to sign a defensive midfielder last summer after they were snubbed by Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, Gravenberch has grown in importance alongside Alexis Mac Allister.

Slot does not appear to trust Wataru Endo as a regular starter and the lack of options mean former Bayern Munich star Gravenberch and Mac Allister largely feature in almost every game.

Gravenberch started alongside Curtis Jones in midfield as Liverpool beat ten-man Lille 2-1 thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott.

The result means Liverpool have booked their place in the knockout stages, albeit they were denied securing top spot by Barcelona after the Catalan giants produced a remarkable comeback to beat Benfica 5-4 in Lisbon.

Gravenberch made way at half-time as Slot brought on Elliott and Mac Allister, with Jones needing treatment on a knock sustained in the first-half.

Blow: Curtis Jones took a knock for Liverpool against Lille

AP

Asked about the decision, Slot said: “The idea was to take Dom [Szoboszlai] and Ryan off at half-time, but Curtis unfortunately couldn’t continue, so that's why Dom stayed [on] a bit longer.

“Conor [Bradley], the idea was to play 90 but in the end you could see that it got tougher and tougher and tougher for him in terms of load, so you don't want to take the risk of him getting injured in the last few minutes like it happened against Madrid.

“We wanted to win this game, but we were also aware of the fact that we had to manage the load because we would have been really, really, really unlucky if we'd have lost twice and still not been in the top eight.

“As we know now, I think 18 points would have been enough to play top eight, but now with 21 there's no discussion anymore.”

Pressed on Jones’ fitness, the Liverpool manager added: “There was a moment in the game where he felt [something] and he said let's play for five more minutes and then see how it is, but [then] he said he had to go off at half-time.”

Liverpool are next in action at home to Ipswich on Saturday before they finish the first phase of the Champions League away at PSV Eindhoven next week.