Spurs showed their 'identity' despite PSG defeat as Slot admits to bleak mood

Tottenham coach Thomas Frank said the 5-3 Champions League loss at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday showed the "identity of the team we want to create".

Tottenham went ahead twice before subsiding for the second time this season after leading PSG. They also lost in the UEFA Super Cup in August in a penalty shootout.

Frank made five changes from the team that sank 4-1 at Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and rejigged his formation.

"Pleased with the performance. It was the reaction I wanted from the players and from the team," said the Dane.

"We responded well and bounced back. That's crucial after a bad performance."

"Today there was more identity of the team we want to create.

"More character, personality, aggressiveness. Three words you need... no matter how you want to play, whatever formation."

The eight-round league stage eliminates just 12 teams. The top eight receive a bye to the last 16, the next 16 go into a play-off round.

The result lifted PSG to second on goal difference, with a two-point advantage over Manchester City in ninth.

"We've pretty much booked a top-24 place," said PSG coach Luis Enrique.

"It was a very tough match today... But it was a complete match."

"We have 12 points, we lead the French league and we have not played a single match this season with our first-choice team," he added.

Tottenham are 16th with eight points from five games and well placed to at least reach the play-off.

"We could have got something out of the game: a draw or a win so it's a little frustrating that we conceded some goals," added Frank.

But Vitinha's first equaliser, a rocket just before half-time, was "a little bit of magic, not into the top corner but into the top, top corner".

"We played against a decent team," he said of the European champions, who are still missing star striker Ousmane Dembele.

"They have the Ballon d'Or winner and they have the next one playing in midfield. Vitinha. Wow! What a player."

Luis Enrique affected a more relaxed attitude to the Portuguese midfielder.

"He was today, as usual, sensational," said the Spanish coach. "He has personality."

ARTETA REVELS IN ARSENAL'S WIN AGAINST 'BEST TEAM' BAYERN

Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal players after they outplayed Europe's "best team" Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday to pull clear at the top of the Champions League table.

The Gunners dominated the second half against the six-time European champions to finish as worthy winners.

Bayern's 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl cancelled out Jurrien Timber's opener late in the first half.

But Noni Madueke restored Arsenal's lead with his first goal for the club and fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli took advantage of a huge blunder from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The Gunners now have five wins out of five in the Champions League and are well on course to qualify automatically for the last 16.

They are three points clear of a clutch of teams including Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who travelled to London with four wins out of four in the Champions League.

"I have to praise our players because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe," said delighted Arsenal manager Arteta.

"Individually, we were immense to resolve all the challenges that this team brings to the table."

The Spaniard added: "We know that the margins are super small. We started the week really well against Spurs, winning here at home (a 4-1 victory).

"Today is another massive victory, but that's it. Now go home, have a nice dinner, and tomorrow morning we'll start to prepare for Stamford Bridge (against Chelsea)."

Arteta said it would be useful to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League quickly but warned there were tough challenges ahead.

"The energy that we created in the stadium, what the team transmits, the energy that we bring, the quality that we play with, it's incredible and we have to maintain that because it's still very early," he said.

There is a growing sense that Arsenal could be on the brink of something special after coming up short in the past few seasons, with three consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League.

But Arteta said it would be straight back to work on Thursday, with preparations for Sunday's match against in-form Chelsea, who are second in the Premier League.

The strength of Arsenal's squad is shown by the fact that two of the goals came from substitutes, Madueke and Martinelli.

The Gunners are also missing a host of senior players including Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.

"I look at the players and they are coming in and they can change the game so that's what you're required to do," said Arteta.

"At this level, we certainly have improved that, not only with the quality but as well with the mindset of the players coming in and that's something that is making a huge difference for us."

SLOT ADMITS TO BLEAK MOOD AS LIVERPOOL'S SLUMP DEEPENS WITH DEFEAT

A dejected Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted the mood is bleak at Anfield after his team's shocking slump continued with a 4-1 throttling by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The pressure on Slot was cranked up a notch after a humbling defeat that was the Reds' ninth in their last 12 games across all competitions, their worst 12-game stretch since the 1953-54 season – when Winston Churchill was the UK's Prime Minister.

"The emotions are very negative and disappointing," Slot said. "I was also hoping and expecting a better performance, because the performance was far from what we are used to, even if we're losing, our performances have been better."

The numbers during the Reds' shambolic run have been shocking. They have lost their last three games across all competitions by three goals, and their home fortress is crumbling, with the team – and disgruntled fans – tasting defeat at Anfield already more times than they did all of last season.

"Even when we don't play well, (we are) able to score two goals and create more chances," Slot said. "But you cannot even compete ... because we simply concede too many goals."

The Premier League champions' troublesome start comes despite the club spending an unprecedented 446 million pounds ($599 million) in the summer transfer window, bolstering their squad with the arrivals of British-record signing Alexander Isak, among others.

But Isak, who was a late substitute against PSV, has been all but absent on the pitch in the games he has played since joining from Newcastle United.

Plus Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah has been a shell of the player who was the Premier League's top scorer last season.

"It's hard because I'm playing for the team I support," Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones told RTE Sports. "I'm a fan, and I've seen this club all my life. In a long, long time, I haven't experienced a Liverpool team going through a period like this with results like these.

"But at the end of the day, we still have that badge on our chest," Jones added. "And until that badge is gone, we're always going to fight. We're going to try and get this team back to where it needs to be, show everyone again what this club is about and why people call it the best team in the world."