- Arne Slot addressed the press ahead of the UEFA Champions League tie between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain
- The first leg of the quarter-final takes place at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday
- The Reds lost to the Ligue 1 giants in the Round of 16 last season
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was in a reflective mood at the Parc des Princes, acknowledging the fortune of twelve months ago while warning his players they cannot afford a repeat of the Etihad surrender.
The Reds will look to put the disappointment of losing 4-0 against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday (4 April) behind them when they face PSG in the UEFA Champions League quarter finals.
They are scheduled to lock horns with the reigning European champions in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, 8 April.
Although reports insist that the Fenway Sports Group are still backing Slot, the Dutchman will be aware that there is a lot riding on this tie.
Therefore, the 47-year-old will be hopeful that his players are firing on all cylinders when they take to the pitch on Wednesday evening.
Slot talks about Liverpool ‘robbery’ v PSG last year
Liverpool’s history with Paris Saint-Germain is one defined by fine margins and, in the case of their last visit to the French capital, a dose of fortune that even Arne Slot struggled to justify.
The two European heavyweights are no strangers to one another, having locked horns in a pulsating Champions League knockout tie just twelve months ago.
On that occasion, the Reds escaped the Parc des Princes with a 1-0 first-leg advantage, though the nature of the victory remains a point of contention for the Liverpool head coach.
Despite the result, Slot’s side were subjected to a relentless Parisian barrage, surviving only through a combination of wasteful finishing from Luis Enrique’s men and a goalkeeping masterclass.
Indeed, reflecting on that night in the City of Light, Slot was characteristically blunt in his assessment, famously labeling the 1-0 win a “robbery” and admitting his side “deserved to lose 4-0” on the balance of play.
The “theft” in France ultimately went unrewarded, however. The return leg at Anfield saw Ousmane Dembele the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner strike back to level the aggregate scores at 1-1.
A tense period of extra time failed to separate the sides, leading to a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat that saw the Reds dumped out of the competition on their own turf.
As they prepare to step back out onto the Parisian turf tomorrow night, the memory of that narrow escape and the subsequent collapse at home will serve as a stark reminder that lightning rarely strikes twice in the Champions League.
The Reds boss is confident that they can go toe-to-toe with PSG again.
However, he is also worried about another 4-0 rout, especially if the visitors have a 20-minute window as they did against City at the weekend when they conceded all four goals.
Slot told a press conference on Tuesday (7 April): “First 35 [minutes against Manchester City] gives me confidence we can go toe to toe with a team like PSG, one of the best teams in open play because of their quality and the way they are managed. If we have the 20 minutes we had at City, we will again concede four goals.
“It’s a challenge for us from the first to the last, otherwise it will be a tough night. We deserved to lose 4-0 here last year, but that is the beauty of football, we won, and it was like: ‘this was robbery’.”
Liverpool boosted by Alexander Isak return
Slot’s side do not have a lot of positives to take confidence from going into the game on Wednesday.
However, the Dutchman can call upon the services of Alexander Isak if needed this time, as the striker is edging closer to making his much-awaited return from injury.
The former Newcastle talisman, who has been out of action since December after sustaining an injury in the process of scoring in the 2-1 win against Tottenham, returned to training last week.
However, the head coach opted against naming him in the matchday squad to face Manchester City.
Isak, though, looks set to make an appearance against PSG, albeit likely from the bench.
He trained with the rest of the squad at the AXA Training Centre and has already been named in the squad to face Enrique and Co.
Slot said: He finished close to a week of team training sessions, he can play a part otherwise I wouldn’t take him,” the Liverpool manager told reporters.
“I didn’t take him to the Etihad because we felt he wasn’t able to get a performance yet. We think we can get a performance out of him now, but not to start.”
