As the gathered media waited for Arne Slot in the inner sanctum of Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre on Friday morning, there was one prominent talking point. With the Champions League knock-out phase play-off draw also scheduled to get underway at 11am, the Reds’ future European exploits were firmly on minds.

Yet, in truth, proceedings in Nyon would teach us little more with Liverpool already knowing their four possible round-of-16 opponents following the conclusion of the league phase in midweek.

The exact identity of their last 16 foe will wait for UEFA’s next gathering, along with which side of the draw the Reds will actually find themselves.

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And so thoughts of the Liverpool pack’s next continental adventures will have to wait.

But Slot already knew that. After securing a top-two finish with a game to spare, his decision to leave 12 players at home for the midweek trip to PSV Eindhoven spoke volumes. The Dutchman already had one eye on a difficult visit to AFC Bournemouth.

And when he arrived to preview the Reds’ trip to the Vitality Stadium, the Champions League became barely even an afterthought. Beyond touching on the encounter with PSV and why he rested 12 players, it did not even warrant a mention from Liverpool’s head coach.

With Andoni Iraola’s side currently enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, made even more impressive by a staggering injury list, Slot is well-aware of the difficult task his side will face on the South Coast as they look to at least maintain their six-point lead at the top of the table.

It went without saying that his midweek rotation had ensured Liverpool could rest players and have practically their whole squad fit - with the Dutchman offering positive updates on Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez.

Yet Slot would point out that resting his players ahead of facing Bournemouth would offer no guarantees for Saturday’s game. Rather, it was a decision made looking months rather than days ahead in what was a rare sign of the Dutchman not only taking things one game at a time.

“The ones that stayed behind, they didn’t rest in the sense that they had three or four days off – they did train but they didn’t play a game,” he said. “I’ve said already, that doesn’t give us any guarantees for Saturday but it hopefully will help us during the upcoming three or four months because the Premier League and the Champions League is a long season for them, with 10 months in a row non-stop playing games without any weeks off in between. So, hopefully that will help them stay fresh for the upcoming months.”

But while the Champions League was only mentioned in brief passing, sporting director Richard Hughes was inevitably name-dropped frequently throughout, given he joined Liverpool in the summer from Saturday’s visitors.

“They have beaten so many strong teams and there is a simple reason for that: a lot of quality,” Slot said. “Created by Richard [Hughes], of course, our current sporting director who worked there for a few years.

“And he hired a fantastic manager as well. Why is he a fantastic manager? He has a great game plan and his players work incredibly hard... So, in every department a very good and strong team and they deserve to be where they are – maybe they even deserve a bit higher than the position they are at the moment.

“He (Justin Kluivert) is one of the many examples where I think Richard deserves a lot of credit, but not only Richard, the manager of course as well because he started working with him.

“And you know that I believe the team makes individuals better. You need quality and that’s what Richard brought there, and his successor probably as well. But I think most of the players that are there were there last season already as well. And the manager has done an incredible job.”

Slot has spoken to Hughes about Bournemouth, but the Dutchman and his backroom team are responsible for such pre-match preparations - even if benefitted from the Scot’s inside-knowledge.

“I spoke with him (Hughes) before this game – as I speak to him before every game,” Slot said. “One day before the game, two days, three days, four days... we almost speak to each other on a daily basis.

“Of course, I asked him a few things on Bournemouth as well, but we have very good people that analyse Bournemouth and I am doing this myself quite a lot as well.

“I’ve seen a lot of games from them already. So, it is just the more information you can get, the better it is.

“My relationship with him is very good, which is probably what you can expect if you win a lot of games because mostly relationships between managers and sporting directors are a bit under debate if you start to lose a lot. My relationship with him is only very positive from the start until now.”

Instead, Hughes has a to-do list of his own to contend with, with such discussions also referenced more than once on Friday morning.

Loan decisions over the likes of Jayden Danns and James McConnell, the contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Liverpool’s summer transfer plans all remain in his in-tray. The Reds’ sporting director faces a busy few days, weeks and months ahead.

After Slot’s press conference drew to a close, word that “Man City have got Real Madrid!” in the Champions League knockout phase play-offs quickly spread around the AXA Training Centre media room.

A big test for the champions, but Liverpool also boast the luxury of putting the Champions League on hiatus for a number of weeks yet as they try to wrestle the crown from Pep Guardiola's men.

Slot can simply go back to taking things one game at a time. The Reds head coach remains fully focused on all things on the pitch, starting with Bournemouth on Saturday and trying to mastermind another Liverpool win.