National media reflect on season Liverpool were 'tested to its core' as Mohamed Salah points made

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A look at how the national media viewed things as Liverpool ended their season with a 1-1 draw with BrentfordAnd so a difficult, underwhelming, and at times maddening Premier League season ends for Liverpool. It's been a tough few months for Arne Slot and his squad, with 12 defeats being the most for 11 years, but there is at least Champions League qualification to cling to.A 1-1 draw with Brentford at home was an oddly fitting way to close the curtain on an ordinary term at Anfield on a day when it was all about saying a proper goodbye to both Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson.The Reds will find themselves in the draw for the European Cup in August and the finances afforded from that particular competition must fuel some serious activity in this summer's transfer window to correct the problems that have blighted this term.The ECHO, as always, was at Anfield to review proceedings on the final day.

For the final time this season, here's how they saw things on the day.READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Van de Ven message, £11.4m contract agreement, Diomande latestREAD MORE: Andy Robertson pays classy tribute to Everton captain Seamus Coleman after Liverpool goodbyeWriting in The Times, Paul Joyce reflects: "All’s not well that ends well. Take them back.'"Alas, they played out in full before Salah and Robertson, who had departed during the game to separate guards of honour, basked in the adulation they deserved after filing back on to centre stage through a tunnel formed by team-mates, club executives, staff, their wives and children."Whoever is asked to replace Salah, and the RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande remains a priority, will need to provide not just goals and assists, but the fear factor that this Liverpool team have been missing this term when dropping 21 points at home."On The Mirror's pages, Andy Dunn writes: "No doubt there are some old-school, hard-bitten football followers who are not overly impressed by guards of honour."Never mind guards of honour that are actually staged DURING a match."But you would have to be a particularly cold fish to be disapproving of the sight of team-mates forming a tunnel of appreciation and celebration for Mohamed Salah as he left the pitch for the last time as a Liverpool player.

A fairy tale in real time, to his great frustration, was beyond him."Liverpool, in keeping with their season, lost their way against Brentford and while there was a landmark for the Egyptian – his second-half assist for Curtis Jones was his 93rd in the Premier League, enabling him to nudge out Steven Gerrard (92) for a club record – it was a challenging day."From an emotional point of view, it left Salah and Andrew Robertson, who is expected to be a target for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer now they have retained their Premier League status, broken. Underwhelming as a draw against Brentford was, Liverpool required a point to guarantee fifth place and Champions League football, and that is exactly what they got. 'The minimum required,' said Arne Slot."And the ECHO's verdict concludes: "Having taken ownership of Anfield's penalty areas for so much of his nine-year stay as a Liverpool player, it was fitting that Mohamed Salah did so one final time here."As the man known so affectionately as the 'Egyptian King' prepared to bring the curtain down on a glittering, barely believable career at this club, it was a perfect way to round it all off, alongside his daughters, Makka and Kayan, in front of the Kop as they serenaded him once more."Like August's emotional, Diogo Jota-inspired celebration in the win over Bournemouth, Salah was once more unable to hold back the tears in front of the world's most famous football stand."But the man who scored 257 goals for the Reds insists he is at peace with the decision to walk away, cutting short his two-year contract extension signed in April 2025 to explore new horizons as a free agent."Liverpool head into the close season with an enormous amount of work to do to get back to the levels of last term when they were the best side in the land.