Nearly 48 hours after Salah spoke, it was Arne Slott’s chance to have his say.
Monday was a public holiday in Milan but the media conference room inside San Siro was still packed. It’s hard to think of a more anticipated pre-match media conference in recent times.
Slott used his humor to initially joke with a reporter that he asked five questions at once, but minute by minute, details began to emerge and it became clear who was in charge.
When BBC Sport asked him if he understood Salah’s comments when the Egyptian said he had been “thrown under the bus”, Slott said: “Normally I’m calm, I’m polite but I’m not weak. If a player has comments like that about many things, it’s up to me and the club to react. We reacted in a way that you can see because he’s not here.”
The slot was on the front foot and he was later supported by goalkeeper Alisson, who insisted that the Liverpool team stand firm with the Premier League winning manager.
The support of a senior player was crucial that night, where Slott was asked if he felt his authority had been diminished by the whole saga.
Slott flatly denied he felt that way, even though he was surprised when he heard the quote Saturday night.
The Liverpool coach did not go into specifics and insisted his conversation with Salah was brief, but he said enough to clarify the situation without further inflaming it.
And, importantly, the door is still open for Salah, although Slott said he has “no clue” whether the 33-year-old has played his last game for the club.
The club say this was mainly due to Salah putting his future under question. His position is that Salah still has a contract and, as Slott said, he is a “strong believer” in the possibility of a player’s return.
After 10 minutes of questions focused on advice, the Liverpool media officer sitting next to the slot remained adamant that it was time to move on to questions about the game.
Ultimately, no matter how Liverpool perform against Inter Milan tomorrow, this is a story that will dominate the agenda until there is a clear resolution.