The Reds entered Sunday’s final Premier League match of the 2025-2026 season at Anfield needing just one point to guarantee a top-five finish.

Ultimately, Curtis Jones’ goal, scored shortly before the hour mark and later canceled out by Kevin Schade, secured that crucial fifth spot. The day was filled with emotion as Robertson and Salah made their final appearances, marking the end of their illustrious careers at Liverpool.

Here’s a full transcript of Slot’s final post-match press conference of the season.

Regarding the match, Liverpool secured the point needed for Champions League qualification…

Once again, we didn’t quite get the result we truly deserved, which has been a consistent theme throughout this season. We deserved to win, although, in the 100th minute, we could have even lost it. We’ve witnessed this so many times this season – we create opportunities to score the winning goal, and then in the dying minutes of added time, they get a significant chance, like that header. This time, it didn’t go in, but often this season, those chances have found the net.

So, I believe this was another game that mirrored many others we’ve played. I recall them taking almost 40 minutes to even enter our penalty area for the first time. I might be slightly exaggerating, but we completely dominated the first half. Yet, from a simple throw-in, they created their initial opportunity. And yes, defensive set-pieces are another area we’ve extensively discussed this season.

• Discover our detailed match report from Anfield

On the season as a whole…

Our objective today was to achieve the minimum required, which was to qualify for the Champions League. As you can see from the league table, even major clubs sometimes fail to secure European qualification, or even Champions League spots, in this league in recent seasons. So, we can never take this for granted. However, it’s clear and evident that we aspired for more. Despite that, I am genuinely proud of the players and what they accomplished this season, as it has been a truly challenging year for us, given everything we’ve had to navigate, especially with numerous injuries. I can recall every difficulty we faced.

But if ultimately, achieving the minimum means qualifying for the Champions League in fifth place, and having faced the FA Cup winners after losing an away game against Manchester City – something many teams experience – and losing to Paris Saint-Germain for the second consecutive year, with no team managing to defeat them over two legs in the past two years. In a single match, Chelsea in the Club World Cup, and perhaps Arsenal in a final, but over two legs, no team has succeeded. So yes, this isn’t precisely what I envisioned we would achieve this season before it began, but considering all that transpired, I am content today that we have secured Champions League qualification.

On the reception fans gave Robertson and Salah…

It was fantastic, as always, exactly what you expect from our supporters. They absolutely gave them the send-off they deserved. These are two legends who have lifted nine trophies over the past nine years. So, yes, for them, it must have been a profoundly special day, likely a difficult one too, but certainly a memorable occasion, and the fans made it truly special. I believe I’ve stated many times that this club understands how to celebrate a league title, how to navigate tragedies, and most definitely how to honor these two extraordinary players.

• “It’s very difficult to leave a place like this” – Robertson and Salah reflect on their Anfield goodbyes

Is there anything he would have done differently throughout the season…

Oh yes, many things. I acknowledge we weren’t perfect, but I would have given the exact same answer even in the year we won the league, because as a manager, one can never be perfect, and a player can never be perfect. However, every decision I made throughout the season was rooted in one core principle: to be thoroughly prepared. So, none of my decisions were ever made with the thought, ‘Oh, I don’t have time, let’s just make a quick choice.’

No, I always gave them careful consideration, and as you know, not every decision can turn out to be the right one. It would be foolish of me to sit here and claim that all my decisions were correct. But before I made them, I always genuinely felt they were the right course of action. Most of the time, however, I didn’t even have the luxury of making many decisions or choices because this particular match was perhaps the first time this season that we didn’t have a single Academy player on our bench, which has been an anomaly. Therefore, if you were to ask me for one word to encapsulate this season, I would describe it as ‘injuries’.