Liverpool suffered injury to go with insult tonight as striker Hugo Ekitike went down in the 2-0 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. The loss sealed their exit from the UEFA Champions League, as tonight’s result marked a 4-0 aggregate victory for the current holders. Liverpool will now turn theit focus towards finishing in the top five of the Premier League, and thus, nab a qualification position for next year’s competition. They may have to do it without Ekitike though.
The Frenchman was not able to exit on his volition, as he required a stretcher in order to leave the pitch.
“It doesn’t look good,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said of the injury which is currently being reported in some outlets as an Achilles problem (others outlets have labeled it an ankle issue). “It looks really bad, but it’s difficult for me to say how bad. Tomorrow we will investigate further.”
After receiving treatment on the pitch, Ekitike, a big money signing from Bayer Leverkusen, was replaced by Mohamed Salah, who again began the game on the bench. This could be a season ender for Ekitike, and it may put his World Cup campaign with France in jeopardy too.
We just don’t know yet.
“I think it is bad,” said defender Ibrahima Konaté, Ekitike’s teammate for club and country.
“I don’t know, I have heard many things, I have no word to talk about that because with the World Cup coming it is very, very hard for him and I send him my prayers.”
We’ll learn more this week, of course, but right now, the situation looks pretty grim.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.