'I saw Mohamed Salah make clear point to Arne Slot and next Liverpool steps are obvious'

Liverpool put in an impressive performance to beat Marseille in the Champions League, with Mohamed Salah returning and showing where his focus lies following AFCON

Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz aided a strong Champions League performance from Liverpool in Marseille.(Image: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates /Getty Images)

"Normal." That's how Arne Slot described his relationship with Mohamed Salah ahead of the Liverpool ace returning to the fold after he came back from AFCON.

Certainly, there was a lot more normality surrounding the performance that Salah put in against Marseille than some of the showings from the Egyptian this season. Slot opted to put him straight back into the starting XI — his side has been lacking goal threat and finishing ability of late — and the Reds boss was rewarded.

"Because of some injuries we have and the players we have available, we thought it was a good idea to play with Mo and Hugo [Ekitike] up front and to overload the midfield," Slot explained on CBS Sports.

"I think you could see that today with full-backs that could attack down the sides, and Macca (Mac Allister) and Ryan [Gravenberch] who could help Joe [Gomez] and Virgil [van Dijk] in build-up. It worked quite well."

Salah linked nicely with Florian Wirtz and put in the kind of performance that Liverpool has been more used to than what he showed in the immediate period before he left for international duty.

Here, Salah looked like a different player — much more relaxed and comfortable than the one who was benched for three successive matches before his Elland Road outburst.

Though he missed a couple of chances, Salah was in the right positions and not marooned miles from goal. And in playing as he did, the 33-year-old also sent a message to everyone that he remains a key cog.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah embrace at the end of Liverpool's Champions League win at Marseille (Image: Thibaud MORITZ / AFP via Getty Images)

Quite clearly, he was playing for his manager here — the same man he called out in remarkable fashion just a few weeks ago.

During the period in which Salah was away at AFCON, there is no doubt that Wirtz stepped up to become Liverpool's main man. He scored four times and assisted twice in seven games, becoming Slot's main creative threat.

The question, with Salah back in the picture, was how the two could fit together. And not just those two, of course, but Hugo Ekitike, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and the rest too.

At the Orange Velodrome, Slot found a solution. Ekitike and Salah played as a wide front two, with Szoboszlai and Wirtz in behind and Gravenberch and Mac Allister breaking forward from deep too. Gakpo, scoring off the bench, was introduced late.

It looked nicely balanced, and in Europe, there is no reason that this system couldn't work again for Liverpool. Against teams that come out to play against them, the Reds should have no trouble matching up to anyone.

Domestically, though, as Liverpool seeks to find its way back into the Champions League next season by securing a high enough finish in the Premier League standings, the same questions remain as before.

Ironically, Bournemouth, the team that Liverpool plays next, might be one of the few sides that does leave space in behind and comes out to play against Slot's men.

After that, though, upcoming trips to Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, for example, won't be anywhere near as accommodating. Wolves won't be leaving gaps like Roberto De Zerbi did.

Salah is back, then, and Liverpool looked very impressive here. But for his next trick, Slot has to find a repeatable equivalent in the Premier League.