PSG emerge as frontrunners while Luis Enriques team aims to deepen Liverpools challenging season
Moving to the present campaign a powerful PSG stands as the evident frontrunners when the teams collide once more in the Champions League last eight with the opening fixture in Paris this Wednesday.
PSGs victory via penalties over Liverpool in the round of sixteen during the previous year proved crucial to their path towards an inaugural Champions League crown.
They needed to reverse a 10 loss at home from an initial match they utterly controlled before maintaining composure at Anfield and the clubs have followed contrasting paths ever since.
Arne Slots squad gradually lost momentum following that encounter though they accomplished sufficient to cross the finish in the Premier League.
The ongoing term has brought major letdowns nevertheless and they head back to Paris in a notably sombre state after a harsh 40 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup last eight.
Very challenging
That prompted Slot to state his players showed insufficient determination while skipper Virgil van Dijk indicated they had surrendered and conceded it would prove extremely hard for Liverpool to rally against PSG.
Yet we bear a duty not just to ourselves but particularly to the supporters and should we wish to salvage anything from this term we must attempt something remarkable in the upcoming three fixtures he remarked with the Champions League matchup bookending a tricky encounter with Fulham.
The reality now is PSG await us. It will prove extremely challenging once more. Thus we must prepare mentally at the earliest Van Dijk continued.
Liverpool have secured victory in only one of their previous five outings and endured 15 losses throughout this season.
Achieving qualification back to Europes elite competition for the following year must serve as the primary objective for a side presently positioned fifth in the Premier League.
PSG by comparison have navigated a demanding season occasionally owing to injuries yet seem poised to regain peak condition precisely when it counts.
A 31 triumph against Toulouse this past Friday including one superb strike from current Ballon dOr holder Ousmane Dembele assisted them in widening their advantage at the Ligue 1 summit to four points clear of closest rivals Lens with an additional match to play.
However the Champions League holds the utmost importance and the French division even granted their appeal to delay this Saturdays vital journey to Lens enabling full focus on Liverpool.
I believe we have demonstrated over an extended period that we stand prepared irrespective of the tournament though clearly aspects exist for enhancement cautioned Luis Enrique.
Dembele remains completely recovered and performing yet Khvicha Kvaratskhelia provided the spark in the prior stage when PSG overwhelmed Chelsea 82 overall and Wednesdays contest marks their 14th versus Premier League foes since January 2025.
Ekitike returns to Paris
One clear vulnerability persists in PSGs lineup however they have yet to adequately fill the void left by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma the standout in last years penalty drama versus Liverpool who now plies his trade at Manchester City.
Lucas Chevalier arrived as the Italians replacement but has yielded his spot to Matvey Safonov the Russian who committed two evident errors leading to a concession during the recent weekend fixture.
A goalkeeper resembles any other athlete. Errors occur as that forms part of the game Luis Enrique noted.
For the away team meanwhile the pivotal figure might be Hugo Ekitike Liverpools top marksman this term with 17 strikes who faces the outfit where he struggled to establish himself earlier in his professional journey.
Ekitike aged 23 transferred to PSG from Reims in 2022 but netted merely four times across 18 months prior to departing for Eintracht Frankfurt.
He found it tough to penetrate an forward line boasting Kylian Mbappe Lionel Messi and Neymar but reenters his home nation as a solid prospect for a France starting role at the World Cup.
Hugo qualifies as an excellent talent. He currently enjoys superb shape thus we simply hope he avoids opposing us remarked PSGs Dembele his fellow national team colleague.