![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_Liverpool-FC-v-Paris-Saint-Germain-FC-UEFA-Champions-League-202526-Quarter-Final-Second-Leg.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLiverpool suffered a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday evening as Alexander Isak managed just 45 minutes on the pitch in his first start since fracturing his leg<\/p>\n
22:38, 14 Apr 2026Updated 23:51, 14 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
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Alexander Isak managed just 45 minutes against Paris Saint-Germain(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney has told Arne Slot<\/a> that HE must decide how many minutes Alexander Isak<\/a> can play instead of sports scientists. The England<\/a> legend also suggested that his Liverpool<\/a> future may hinge on such decisions.<\/p>\n The Swedish striker made his first start for the Reds since fracturing his leg against Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> in December when they met Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> at Anfield<\/a> on Tuesday evening. However, he managed just 45 minutes plus stoppage time on the pitch before he was swapped out for Mohamed Salah<\/a> at the start of the second-half.<\/p>\n While it is unknown as to whether the limited amount of minutes was a result of a suggestion put to Slot by a sports scientist from the club or if it was the Dutchman’s idea remain unknown. But Rooney<\/a> made it abundantly clear that the head coach should be the one making said decisions.<\/p>\n Speaking on Amazon Prime Video’s<\/a> coverage in the aftermath of the contest, club legend Robbie Fowler<\/a> asked the question. He said: “Isak played 45 minutes, is that a manager’s decision or a sports science decision?”<\/p>\n FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated LFC Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n Picking his words carefully, Rooney replied: “Maybe both. I think sports science have a big say now, but Arne Slot’s future at the club could be on [the line].<\/p>\n “I think as a manager you need to take control – I’m not saying that was the case – but, ‘Listen, you play as long as you can and if you can’t do it, you can’t – I’ll take you off.'”<\/p>\n It comes as Alan Shearer was quick to criticise Isak’s performance<\/a> as he was substituted for Salah for the second-half. He explained: “He wasn’t hardly involved at all was he, Isak? Only five touches in that half, didn’t really do enough, didn’t look fit.<\/p>\n “And I think Arne Slot said before the game didn’t he? That he didn’t see him doing too many more minutes than 45 and that’s exactly what happened.”<\/p>\n Despite their best efforts, Liverpool were ultimately ousted from the Champions League<\/a> following Tuesday evening’s encounter – Ousmane Dembele making the difference with a late brace.<\/p>\n That tally added to the 2-0 deficit Liverpool already had to overcome thanks to goals from Desire Doue and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia in last week’s first leg<\/a> at the Parc des Princes.<\/p>\n Wayne Rooney has told Arne Slot what he needs to hear(Image: PA)<\/p>\n While PSG will now turn their attention to a semi-final with either Real Madrid of Bayern Munich, Liverpool can now set their full undivided attention on their final six Premier League<\/a> games.<\/p>\n Up next for Liverpool is a first-ever Merseyside Derby<\/a> at Hill Dickinson Stadium<\/a> come Sunday, April 19, before they go against Crystal Palace<\/a> on home turf next Saturday.<\/p>\n Tense matches with Manchester United<\/a>, Chelsea<\/a>, Aston Villa<\/a> and Brentford make up their final four in May, as the Reds look to secure European football for 2026\/27 come the end of May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool suffered a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday evening as Alexander Isak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2421,16118,61,60,1547,112,38556,19612],"class_list":["post-398889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alexander-isak","tag-arne-slot","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-sports","tag-uefa-champions-league","tag-wayne-rooney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Wayne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_Liverpool-v-Paris-Saint-Germain-UEFA-Champions-League-Quarter-Final-Second-Leg-Anfield.jpg\")
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