Arne Slot, the Liverpool coach, appeared in a press conference following the 2-1 loss against Brighton in the 31st round of the English Premier League, at the Amex Stadium.

The coach said: "The first half was balanced. It was a heavy blow for us when Ekitike got injured, and Alexander Isak was not really present, especially considering the outstanding performance Hugo delivered on Wednesday. The first half was balanced, and in the second half, Brighton was the better team on the field."

Regarding Ekitike's reaction when he was substituted: "The players and fans know that there are only eight matches left to qualify for the Champions League, and missing any match causes the player distress. His exit and inability to help the team - just bad luck. He won't be out for three months, but it's unfortunate that he couldn't finish the match; it was a tough blow for him and for us."

Regarding Liverpool's tenth defeat this season: "It's clear that we lost a lot of points after participating in European competitions. I have repeatedly tried to explain the reasons for this, but today we also have to commend Brighton. In the second half, they were the better team on the field."

Regarding the importance of the remaining matches to secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League, it has become imminent: "This is what I meant before the match. I thought we wouldn't need 24 points to qualify, and I hope I'm right because we can no longer accumulate that number of points. We kept trying and were close in the second half, but they were closer to scoring the third goal than we were. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough after a week like this."

He concluded regarding the pressure to end the season in the best way: "There is always pressure at Liverpool. On me and on the players. This is completely normal. We have qualified for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League, but in the league, we must ultimately secure qualification for the Champions League. Despite my great disappointment with our loss today, facing Brighton away has been and will remain difficult as long as they continue to have such a number of outstanding players. However, there are other matches where we could have gained more points, like last week's match against Tottenham. That match was much worse than this one. But even at Brighton, a team of Liverpool's caliber should be able to achieve a positive result."