Along with the Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid matchup, Liverpool facing off against Paris St-Germain is the juiciest fixture for the Round of 16 in the Champions League. After finishing the league stage as the leaders and enjoying a bye week, Liverpool is taking on the French champions to keep their treble hopes alive.
The Reds all but secured the Premier League title, as they lead Arsenal by 13 points, and made the League Cup final. Winning the Champions League in his first season would immediately put Arne Slot among the club greats in his first season as a manager.
PSG, on the other hand, are similarly comfortable in their domestic league. They haven’t lost in Ligue 1 all season and have a 13-point lead of their own over the second-place Marseille. Luis Enrique’s side is coming off an impressive 10-0 win on aggregate in the knockout round of the Champions League over fellow French side, Brest.
For a team that has won 10 out of their last 12 league titles, it has always been more about Champions League success. In that same span, however, PSG only has one final and two semifinal appearances in the Champions League. Last season, in Luis Enrique’s first year in charge, PSG suffered a disappointing elimination at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in the semis.
With one of the youngest teams in the competition, PSG has found its stride over the last few months. They haven’t lost a competitive game since falling to Bayern Munich in November.
Their toughest opponent, however, awaits them earlier than they would have liked. Liverpool has been the best team in Europe all season. While PSG has the tempo, dynamism, and intensity to match Liverpool, whether their inexperience will prove too costly remains to be seen.
Despite a busy winter transfer window that saw the departures of a few key rotation players like Marco Asensio, Milan Skriniar, and Kolo Muani, and the arrival of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, PSG hasn’t skipped a beat. The integration of the new-look PSG has been smooth, with Ousmane Dembele having a breakout campaign in his age-28 season. Shockingly enough, Dembele is one of the oldest and most experienced players on this roster.
While Bradley Barcola, alongside Dembele and Kvaratskhelia, make up a very dangerous frontline, it is PSG’s midfield that causes teams all sorts of problems. The trio of Vitinha, Joao Neves, and Fabian Ruiz has a unique combination of physicality and creativity. Bolstered by Lee Kang-In and Zaire Emery from the bench, PSG is one of the few teams in Europe that can match Liverpool’s intensity in the middle of the pitch.
PSG has had no issues getting on the scoreboard all season. In their last five home games, including two Champions League outings, the French champs scored a total of 20 goals. They possess too much speed and versatility up front not to create significant goal opportunities. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive shortcomings will likely be a major issue for Liverpool when dealing with the PSG frontline.
At the same time, Arne Slot could prefer a more cautious approach. The Dutch manager will understandably think they can take care of business at Anfield in the return leg if they can escape Paris with a draw. They could sit deeper to begin the game and deploy pressure more selectively.
Liverpool can still be highly effective on the counter-attack. Mohamed Salah continues to be on fire and there is simply no team in Europe that can slow down the Salah-Diaz pairing in transition. If Liverpool scores early, they will be especially dangerous against a PSG side pushing higher up.
An early goal could dramatically change the look of this game, as both sides tend to thrive as more space opens up on the field. This could very well push this game to a high-scoring affair.
