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Liverpool boss Arne Slot has explained why he was so angry during the first half of the Reds' thumping 4-0 win at home to Galatasaray. Slot, 47, was unusually animated on the touchline, making his feelings clear to stand-in fourth official Szymon Marciniak over a number decisions.

Marciniak had been due to referee the Champions League clash until he suffered an injury and was replaced by Pawel Raczkowski. Poland's Raczkowski was booed multiple times after Galatasaray players stayed down and prompted him to stop the game.

Slot was getting visibly frustrated and his anger hit new heights - quite literally - when Liverpool were denied a penalty in the first hald, as Hugo Ekitike went down inside the box. The Dutchman was seen jumping up and down and screamed at Marciniak.

Post-match, Slot opened up on why he felt so compelled to express his feelings. "We see it incredibly often that opponents come here to Anfield just to lie on the ground," the Reds manager explained.

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"I also watched the match against Juventus back, and in the first half, the Galatasaray players were on the ground 14 times. That means the game is stopped every three minutes, so there is never any rhythm.

"I felt it was important, not because I was stressed, to show that we couldn't let this happen. I just wanted to create something. To let everyone know that we need to protect football.

"It's not nice that football is heading in this direction. So I tried to make that clear in words and gestures, that this is very upsetting for football. That is also why I am glad that we didn't let ourselves get carried away."

Do you agree with Arne Slot? Have your say in the comments section.

Fortunately for Liverpool, Galatasaray's antics didn't stop them from reaching the quarter-finals, where they'll face Paris Saint-Germain, who knocked them out of the Champions League last season. "This was everything you could want to see," Slot continued.

"From the first to the last minute, my players gave everything. We created a number of chances that my team has never created in a single match before. It doesn't happen often that a team scores four times but is still below the xG (expected goals)."

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