Mo Salah’s emotional statement after Liverpool fail to qualify for Champions League: ‘We failed’

Mohamed Salah on Thursday made an emotional statement on social media after it was confirmed Liverpool FC won’t be playing in the UEFA Champions League next season.

Manchester United thrashed Chelsea 4-1 at Old Trafford and sealed their place in the top four of the 2022-23 Premier League. The Red Devils now have 72 points and are in third place. They are six points ahead of Liverpool with just one game left in the season.

Liverpool, who will play in the Europa League, Europe’s second-tier competition, will not participate in the Champions League for the very first time in a full season under boss Jurgen Klopp.

Soon after Manchester United defeated Chelsea on Thursday, Salah took to social media and expressed how he was “devastated” for Liverpool not making it to next year’s Champions League before adding the Reds had failed and had “absolutely no excuse for this.”

“I’m totally devastated. There’s absolutely no excuse for this. We had everything we needed to make it to next year’s Champions League and we failed. We are Liverpool and qualifying for the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it’s too soon for an uplifting or optimistic post. We let you and ourselves down,” wrote Salah.

This is more or less just the result of Liverpool failing to bring in midfield reinforcements during the summer. At one point earlier this season, no European football looked within Liverpool’s reach for the next campaign. However, their current streak of being unbeaten in 10 games put them close to a miraculous top-four finish.

But Liverpool could not fully make it up for their inconsistent season and eventually had to settle for the fifth spot in the 2022-23 Premier League table, with one final game to go.

Manchester United needed just a point against Chelsea in their penultimate game of the league season to join Manchester City, Arsenal, and Newcastle United in the Champions League for the subsequent campaign.

Klopp’s Liverpool had a near-perfect 2021-22 season, where they played every single game on offer. While they won two trophies, they lost the Champions League final 1-0 to Real Madrid and lost the Premier League title by a whisker to Manchester City on the last day of the league season.

Liverpool started off the 2022-23 campaign with a win over Manchester City in the Community Shield, but then won only two of their opening eight Premier League games.

The Reds struggled on the road in the Premier League before their recent upturn in form, with three of their eight away losses coming at relegation-battling Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth. Liverpool were only beaten by struggling Leeds United at home in the league.

In the last-16 of this season’s Champions League, Liverpool were comfortably beaten by Real Madrid, including a 2-5 thrashing at Anfield. Klopp and Co went out at the fourth-round stage of both the FA Cup and League Cup to Brighton and Manchester City respectively.

Salah, who signed a lucrative new three-year contract with Liverpool last summer, has netted 19 goals in the Premier League this season, with six coming in 14 games before the 2022 World Cup and 13 in 23 games following the tournament. Overall, the Egyptian winger has scored 30 goals and 15 assists in 50 competitive outings for Liverpool.