Arne Slot believes Liverpool can do ‘special things’ against Paris Saint-Germain and overturn a two-goal deficit at a stadium famed for nights like these.
The European champions travel to Merseyside with a two-goal advantage having outplayed Slot’s men in the French capital last week – but the head coach and his players know they have it in them to turn it around.
‘Yes there is a belief we can do special things tomorrow,’ said the boss, whose side returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Fulham.
‘But we have to be very, very, very special tomorrow to achieve that as we are playing against the champions of Europe. That makes the task more complicated but not impossible.’
Anfield has been the venue of many against-the-odds victories in this competition, most notably the 4-0 win over Barcelona in the 2019 semi-final when the Reds trailed 3-0 from the first leg in Catalonia. More mature fans also recall a famous night against St-Etienne in 1977.
Captain Virgil van Dijk was one of the players part of that comeback and he said the fans must create a raucous atmosphere for PSG.
‘They (the fans) will probably be the most important factor, together with our performance,’ he said. ‘I’ve been very lucky to experience those nights where the connection between the fans and the performance has been unbelievable.
‘We need something very special to happen otherwise we will have no chance. If we play like we did in Paris then we will have no chance anyway in my opinion.
‘There is an opportunity on Tuesday to come up with a good game plan and fight for it for 90 plus minutes. I am really looking forward to it. It’s a privilege to be in the quarter-finals regardless. We shouldn’t take that for granted.
‘We have to remember we are Liverpool. We have to make it a memorable night.’
PSG boss Luis Enrique, who once stood on the Kop as a spectator, knows the atmosphere will be tough and said: ‘There could be a few pitfalls in this game and it could be a trap.
‘People around the two teams speak about the differences that existed last week but it’s still going to be a really tight game.’
Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been Liverpool’s star player this season, agrees and said: ‘My message to (the fans) is that we are going to go all in.
‘We’ll give our best from minute one to minute 90 or maybe for 120, 125 if needed. I can speak for all the players. We want it so bad. We work for it so badly and in one game anything can happen at Anfield.
‘Anfield is going to make a big impact tomorrow. It is going to be not only about 11 players or the subs who come in, it is going to be the whole stadium and we know how it feels to be playing for Liverpool in front of these fans. We don’t need any more motivation.’
The fans alone will not spur the team to success, though. All the players are aware they must up their level from the first leg where they were lucky to leave Paris still in the tie. Liverpool had no shots on target and just 26 per cent possession at the Parc des Princes.
But Slot has told his troops that Liverpool have scored at least two goals in 36 of the last 50 home games.
The head coach added: ‘We have to be better. Much, much better than we were last week. And their players experienced Anfield last year, so they think that they know what is coming… so I can only hope our fans can find an extra gear, compared to last season.’
PSG have not played since the first leg as the French federation allowed them to postpone their weekend fixture, much to the fury of their planned opposition Lens who are their nearest challengers in Ligue Un, four points behind the leaders.
Liverpool boss Slot, meanwhile, made five changes for the win over Fulham and there are now calls for him to reward Rio Ngumoha with another start after the 17-year-old scored to open up a tight game on Saturday.
Asked if the youngster can cope with a game of this magnitude, Slot said: ‘Yeah I think he can, first of all because of personality, he doesn’t get distracted. Everyone who knows his history, there has been expectation around him for years and he has always been able to focus.
‘Second his quality, he has shown he is able to take one-versus-ones on and make it difficult for the defenders he is facing. He has done a very good job managing what comes to him now but it also helps to have so many good players around him.’
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones trained on Monday after going off at half-time on Saturday with a groin problem. The match will come too soon for No 1 goalkeeper Alisson, though the Brazilian is hopeful of stepping up his recovery from a hamstring issue in the coming weeks.
LIVERPOOL: Mamardashvili; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Salah, Ekitike.
PSG: Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
