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”.
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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. And this is definitely a big game again for us.
“We will have to plan in the best possible way, to show ourselves in the best possible way 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. We have to adapt really well to what’s in front of us. It will be an interesting game.”
Luis Enrique, who guided PSG to the semi-finals last season, was effusive in his praise of the Premier League leaders and Slot’s impact. “Liverpool has one of the best counter attacks 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.”
