Liverpool fear for ‘very-bad’ looking Ekitike injury

Hugo Ekitike has handed a major injury worry to Liverpool and France after he was forced off in the first half of his club’s Champions League quarterfinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The France striker appeared to hurt his right ankle when he slipped in the 27th minute of the second-leg match at Anfield.

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“It doesn’t look good,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot said after a 2-0 defeat that sealed a 4-0 aggregate victory for PSG. “It looks really bad, but it’s difficult for me to say how bad. Tomorrow we will investigate further.”

After receiving treatment, it was quickly determined Ekitike could not continue and was taken off the field on a stretcher. He was replaced by Mohamed Salah.

Salah had again begun the game on the bench, just as he did in the first leg last week.

Alexander Isak did make Liverpool’s starting lineup for the first time in four months. But Slot suggested Ekitike’s injury means Tuesday was probably the last time this season that he would be able to field his first-choice attacking lineup.

“For 88 minutes [before] tonight we have played with Florian [Wirtz], Alex and Hugo,” Slot said. “We added about 27 to that tonight and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season. The good thing is Alex is back.”

Liverpool failed to mount a comeback after a 2-0 loss in the first leg in Paris last week, conceding two late goals form Ousmane Dembélé as PSG reached the semifinals.

Ekitike’s injury will be a concern for France ahead of this year’s World Cup and could also be a blow to Liverpool in its bid to secure Champions League qualification.

“I think it is bad,” Ekitike’s Liverpool and France teammate Ibrahima Konaté told Amazon Prime.

“I don’t know, I have heard many things, I have no word to talk about that because with the World Cup coming it is very, very hard for him and I send him my prayers.”

Ekitike has been one of Liverpool’s top players this season and has scored 19 goals for club and country. He scored for France in its 2-1 win against Brazil last month.

PSG’s Nuno Mendes also went off shortly before halftime for an unspecified issue, but he was able to leave the field unaided. Désiré Doué then limped off early in the second half.

The Associated Press and ESPN’s Beth Lindop contributed to this report.