Dominik Szoboszlai, the 25-year-old Liverpool midfielder, was asked to discuss the Champions League quarter-finals (April 8 and 14) against Paris Saint-Germain while speaking to TNT Sports after the 4-0 victory against Galatasaray on Tuesday night (4-1 on aggregate). He displayed confidence despite last season’s elimination in the round of 16.
Szoboszlai said, “We showed today that we are capable of anything.”
“Regarding the prospect of a quarter-final against PSG…
We first need to recapture the mentality we showed against Galatasaray on Saturday because that’s also an important match, and then everyone will be away for the international break. Yes, but watching them play against Chelsea, they haven’t become a worse team than last season. So they’re a very good team, but I think we showed today that we’re capable of anything,” these comments were relayed by Liverpool’s official website.
Understandably, the Liverpool midfielder isn’t expressing any particular fear; that message wouldn’t go down well with the club, his teammates, and the fans. It’s also fair to say that the Reds clearly dominated against Galatasaray in the second leg. This team’s peak performance remains high.
However, they are also inconsistent. The current 5th-placed team in the Premier League (12 points behind 2nd-placed Manchester City) also struggled in the first leg of their round of 16 tie in Turkey and in other league matches. More consistency will be needed against PSG. Moreover, Szoboszlai doesn’t forget to respect Paris and emphasizes that there’s no sign of weakening despite what some “analyses” suggest.
The Parisians will need to continue their upward trajectory to progress further, while Liverpool will finally need to achieve consistency to have any hope. Nothing is decided yet; these will be two very high-level matches. It can’t be any other way in the Champions League quarter-finals.
