Arne Slot has said Liverpool must present the best possible version of themselves to advance beyond
Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, although Luis Enrique fears “the three fighter jets” in the Premier League leaders’ attack.
The Liverpool head coach admitted he would have preferred to have avoided the French champions in the draw for the last 16 as, on recent form, they are “one of the strongest teams in Europe”.
PSG have won their past 10 games in all competitions, scoring 40 times in the process. While the draw is little reward to Liverpool for winning the group stage, Slot believes it is an occasion his players will relish as they continue their pursuit of three trophies in his debut season.
“We would have preferred to play against Benfica instead of PSG,” said Slot, who has an injury doubt over Cody Gakpo for the first leg on Wednesday night. “But this is also a great fixture to play and it’s a great stadium to play. If you are playing for Liverpool you want to play big games. We are facing a very strong opponent – they are as well.
“We will have to show up in every part of the game and give the best possible performance of the season.
It is not easy to press PSG because they go man-for-man all over the pitch. Against Arsenal earlier in the season PSG were not as aggressive as they have been in the last 10-15 games. We have to be the best possible version of ourselves. PSG are one of the best teams in Europe, with so much attacking threat and so much rotation. It will be an interesting game.”
The mantle of best team in Europe can be applied to Liverpool with their 13-point lead in the Premier League and place in the Carabao Cup final. Slot, however, believes his side need to win the club’s seventh European crown to confirm that status.
“It’s a nice compliment to get but the best team in Europe has to win the
Champions League and we are far away from that,” he said. “I think the best team in Europe is still Real Madrid because they won this competition last season. For us, we have to win it before you can say this.”
Enrique, who guided PSG to the semi-finals last season, was effusive in his praise of Slot’s impact since succeeding Jürgen Klopp. “Liverpool has one of the best counterattacks in Europe so we will try to keep the ball and be careful not to suffer too much from transitions,” the PSG coach said.
“They have three fighter jets in attack and it’s not easy to stop these fighter jets. Arne Slot has done a great job. He has created a near‑perfect team, which knows how to defend, knows how to press, which can attack either by holding the ball or accelerating.”
The former coach of Champions League‑winning Barcelona believes the intimidating atmosphere in Paris could be a factor on Wednesday.
“It is hard for our opponents to play at the Parc des Princes with the pressure and the atmosphere at the stadium. If we can play as we have been, it will be very tough for our opponents.”
I don’t think our players will be phased by that shit hole in a shit hole city.
