LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MARCH 10: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during a training session ahead of their UEFA Champions League 2024/25 round of 16 second leg match on March 10, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)(Image: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It speaks to just how serene things are at Liverpool just now that some pre-training hijinks between two long-time friends and colleagues was quickly packaged into something more sinister on Monday afternoon.

As Liverpool emerged for open training at around 1.15pm from the AXA Training Centre for the gentle routines that are undertaken for the cameras before the more meaningful work, away from the media’s glare, there was the sight of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold shoving each other and seemingly at loggerheads.

The pair were pushed away from each other as the players started to take their positions on the field and while Salah was laughing throughout the exchange, it appeared, to some mischief makers at least, that there was a problem between two of the club’s most high-profile players.

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Alexander-Arnold did not appear overly happy on the footage captured at the Kirkby base, but Salah was clearly seeing the funny side of whatever the gist was, as the imposing figure of Ibrahima Konate stepped in and Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones tried to play apparent peacemakers.

The incident, as you might have imagined by now, was nothing like it was made out to be by some sections of the media, who seemed to be willing an issue in the camp of Arne Slot’s squad into existence.

Those closer to the day-to-day ongoings at the training ground insisted it was all light-hearted ribbing between two close team-mates and reporters at the open session itself on Monday also noted as much.

The pair were later spotted around the £50m complex laughing and joking after training, further reinforcing the idea that labelling it a storm in a teacup would even be overegging it. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn would have a hard time selling it to the box office, that much is certain.

Rather than some evident ructions in Liverpool squad, the Reds are instead presenting something of a united front right now as they kick off a major week that could see them secure a last-eight spot in the Champions League before lifting the first piece of silverware of Arne Slot’s Anfield tenure on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final.

First up, is Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield in a second leg that Slot accepts his team will need to perform much better in if they are to book their passage to play either Club Brugge or Aston Villa.

“The result was ours, the performance was for them,” was Slot’s philosophical take on the 1-0 smash-and-grab at the Parc des Princes last week.

“I think both teams have shown in the last 15-20 games that they can score goals from everywhere. Yes, we are 1-0 up and that gives us confidence, where it will give them confidence the way they have played and their performance. Maybe 50/50 is a fair way of looking at it.

“Tomorrow, we want to play a different game, but our intentions are always the same and we won’t go for a draw. We just want to win every single game and have the ball as much as we can.

“Everyone is writing about 27 shots (for PSG last week) and that is also what I saw, but if you put the 27 shots in a row it’s not that they were all amazing saves from Alisson. He had two or three incredible saves but most of theirs were from outside the 18-yard box.”

If Liverpool came through their most testing assignment of the campaign in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, it did at least point to their reserves of character as they dug in and ensured a rampant PSG were kept at bay, particularly in the second half.

The flip side on Tuesday is how a younger, less star-studded PSG are able to answer the major question about them. Is this more vibrant, youthful side able to secure a major away-day scalp at the sharp end of Europe’s premier competition? Can they handle a different Liverpool, at a red-hot Anfield? It’s far easier to talk the talk, after all.

“When you play Anfield against Liverpool you don’t need to motivate yourself that much, you have it already,” says Khivicha Kvaratskhelia, the brilliant Georgia winger, whose goal last week was ruled out for a marginal offside. “When you play for PSG you have motivation every game. We try to win tomorrow, this is our mentality.

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“I am not the only one who played here at Anfield [before], most of them know what it means to play here. It will be a tough game, it will be a tough atmosphere for Liverpool but I know our fans are coming here and will be a big support.”

Interestingly, last week’s defeat was enough for PSG coach Luis Enrique to break tradition and speak to his players directly after the match to remind them of the quality of their performance on the night.

The former Barcelona boss, who lifted this trophy in 2015, does not immediately relay his post-match thoughts to his players usually, but felt an exception needed to be made, such was the jarring impact of Elliott’s late winner.

Enrique said: “I am pretty convinced that every single one of my players wants to play. We know what it means to play at Anfield, it is a historic stadium with a wonderful history and that is a huge motivation.

“Yeah I have often told you why I almost never speak to my players after the game. It is my view, I believe there is no point to it because the players are just thinking about the result but after the game against Liverpool I made an exception because I told them they did absolutely everything to get a result. But I don’t think I will be doing it again.

“I don’t think Arne Slot has much doubts about our starting 11 tomorrow, I don’t pay too much attention to what is going on elsewhere. No I am not going to give away who is going to play or how but over the course of the two games we are going to see two of the best teams in Europe. Certainly I think whoever goes through tomorrow will go to the final.”

On the eve of such an integral week to the overall season, it would be an inopportune time for in-house fighting to grip Liverpool. Just as well then that all was not as it seemed at the AXA Centre on Monday afternoon.