'This was the work of someone trying too hard'
- Published
Liverpool's support, as they always have, stood firmly behind Darwin Nunez but he suffered a nightmare with an undistinguished performance as a substitute before missing a penalty in the shootout.
There was no question about his work-rate here, but this was a confused, over-anxious display characterised by misplaced passes and misunderstandings after he replaced Diogo Jota with 17 minutes left of normal time.
If anything, this was the work of someone trying too hard.
It will, however, only increase the question marks about whether it will ever fall into place for a striker who earned a reputation as "Captain Chaos" for his all-action style but simply does not produce with the consistency to meet Liverpool's demands.
Nunez, it should be stressed, was certainly not to blame for Liverpool's loss and the greats can miss penalties, but it was his miss that felt as it if carried more weight.
He is likely to have plenty of chances to turn his fortunes around, perhaps starting against Newcastle United in Sunday's Carabao Cup final, but there is an inescapable sense that his future is likely to be on the agenda in the summer when Slot's tenure moves into its next phase, almost certainly with a Premier League title to defend.