This Tuesday at 9pm (UTC+1), Paris Saint-Germain take on Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 2024-2025 (0-1 first leg). In a press conference, Reds coach Arne Slot spoke about the match and the Parisians’ opponents.
Slot “They’re used to going far”.
“Luis Enrique says the winner can go to the final and that PSG have nothing to lose….
After this match, we’ve still got a long way to go, but we already know who we’ll eventually be playing, Aston Villa or Brugge (in the quarter-finals), then Arsenal or Real Madrid (in the semi-finals), very good teams. But where I agree with him is that both teams, along with a few others, can go all the way to the final.
PSG have nothing to lose: they have a game to lose, and so do we. They’ve been at this level for a long time; they were in the semi-finals last year (against Dortmund, 0-1, 0-1) when we weren’t even playing in the C1. They’re used to going far.”
Don’t be fooled by what Slot has to say. Liverpool were favourites, and with the win in the first leg, they’re even more so. Of course, the way the match unfolded is reminiscent of a bad dream for the Parisian club, who dominated outrageously without scoring before being punished, but the truth of one match is not the truth of the next. We need to find new weapons and move forward.
Slot “I wasn’t at all surprised by the Parisians’ game, they really impressed me”.
Compared to the first leg, what will you need to do better to qualify?
I wasn’t at all surprised by the Parisians’ performance. But even before that match, I was impressed by their intensity, their cohesion and the permutations of their midfield. Some people said we didn’t play well last week, but I don’t agree, they were the ones who were very, very good. We hadn’t yet come up against a team with so much quality and intensity. But I think we can do better this time, especially with the help of the public.
Slot “They’re the most complete team we’ve played against so far”.
After the first leg, some Parisian players said that Arsenal and Bayern had played better than you…
Yes, I know, but they’ve come a long way since then. I saw those two matches, and they’ve changed a lot. They played very low at Arsenal (0-2, October 1), but now they press everywhere and take the risk of playing one-on-one at the back.
After that, they say what they want, but I hope they’ll have a different opinion after the match. But they’re the most complete team we’ve played against so far.
Do these statements motivate your players even more?
No, they don’t need that, in a knockout match against one of the best teams in the world, which we are too.”
You get the feeling that the press conference is all about PSG, who, let’s face it, impressed everyone in the first leg. Right now, we’re looking for ways to motivate the Liverpool players, and obviously that serves the English more than anything else.
The pressure is on PSG, who should not only put in another top-class performance, but also overturn a solid English side at Anfield. The Parisians must be careful not to fall asleep thinking they’ve arrived.
Slot “We know we can do better”.
Luis Enrique says he needs possession for his team to express themselves. How about you?
We’d like to keep the ball a lot more than we did last week. But even when they don’t have it, they have a high level of intensity which allows them to have chances, because they took the ball away from us when we were trying to build up. But in the 87th minute, on a long ball, we had the chance because they were so open.
I saw many other situations where we could have done better, but their pressing tired us out, and we lacked the lucidity to execute our actions. We know we can do better, but I don’t agree with those who say we played badly. You have to recognise PSG’s incredible game.”
Luis Enrique says what he thinks, and that’s the advantage with this coach. He’s sure of what he’s doing and the forces at work, but he’s also clear about what the Champions League is all about. Liverpool won a soccer match that was going badly, and that’s impressive.
They still found the resources to take advantage of a match in which they didn’t exist. PSG will have to do better when we know that Liverpool can’t do any worse. It’s going to be a tense game and anything can happen.
Slot “ We want to play another game, we’re not playing for a draw, we want to win ”
How do you defend a one-goal lead?What attitude should we adopt?
We didn’t want to play so low last week, we would have preferred to play differently.We want to play another game, we’re not playing for a draw, we want to win and have the ball.After that, there’s a lot of talk about the 27 shots, but they weren’t 27 shots on target. Alisson made two or three fantastic saves, yes, but a lot of the shots were long-range or off target.
Is it really 50-50?
Yes, it might be. In the first leg, the result was for us, the performance for them. They can score anywhere. We’re leading 1-0, we’ve got a lot of confidence, but so do they, after the first leg… ”
50-50 sounds like a polite greeting between the two coaches. Liverpool have their hand and right foot in the quarter-finals. PSG have one foot in a season without a European Cup. That’s the reality of this second leg.
It’s only logical that Luis Enrique should want to believe, just as it’s only natural that Slot should want to take some of the pressure off his squad.As we all know, Liverpool were surprised by a very good PSG side, and inevitably, doubts began to creep in.As for Paris, we must be careful not to repeat the same frustrating game. If there are two big chances, we’ll need two goals.
