Conflicting situation between the two teams
Last season, the two teams met in the round of 16. PSG coach Luis Enrique then assessed Liverpool as a "nearly perfect" team. However, PSG excellently eliminated the English team after a penalty shootout. This victory opened a major turning point to help PSG win the Champions League.
After a year, the two teams met again in the quarter-finals with opposite circumstances. Liverpool is going through a disappointing season when they are far behind in the Premier League title race. Most recently, they suffered a 0-4 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup.
This defeat could lead to many consequences, as coach Arne Slot emphasized that the whole team lacked fighting spirit. Captain Virgil van Dijk even said that it is not easy for the team to revive their spirit when playing PSG.
PSG is waiting for us. That will be a very difficult match. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves as soon as possible," Van Dijk said.
Liverpool has only won 1 of their last 5 matches. In all competitions, they have lost 15 matches since the beginning of the season. With 5th place in the Premier League table, Liverpool must try their best to be able to win a ticket to the Champions League next season.
Conversely, PSG has had a difficult season due to injuries, but they are accelerating at the right time in the most important stage of the season. In Ligue 1, they beat Toulouse 3-1, thereby widening the gap with the 2nd-placed team in the standings to 4 points, and still have one match to play.
But defending the UEFA Champions League title is also highly valued by PSG. The Ligue 1 organizers have accepted the request to postpone the important away trip to Lens this week so that PSG can fully focus on the match against Liverpool.
I think we have proven for a long time that we are ready, no matter who the opponent is, but clearly there are still things we need to improve," Luis Enrique said.
Notable statistics
The European Football Federation (UEFA) has released remarkable statistics about the PSG vs Liverpool match.
PSG and Liverpool have met six times in UEFA tournaments, each winning three times. However, PSG have both overcome Liverpool in the knockout rounds such as in the 1996-1997 C2 Cup semi-finals (winning with a total score of 3-2) and eliminated Liverpool in the Champions League round of 16 last season in a penalty shootout.
The team in Paris only lost one of their last ten UEFA matches against opponents from England (7 wins, 2 draws) and is unbeaten in their last seven matches (5 wins, 2 draws). They have won four and drawn one of their last five UEFA home matches against Premier League teams.
PSG has won all four recent UEFA first and second leg matches against English teams. In the Champions League last season, they eliminated Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal. This season they defeated Chelsea in the round of 16 with a total score of 8-2.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has scored 4 goals in 3 consecutive Champions League knockout matches for PSG.
Warren Zaire-Emery (20 years and 31 days) could become the youngest player ever to reach 40 appearances in the Champions League, surpassing the record currently held by Jude Bellingham (21 years and 164 days).
Liverpool have won 7 of their last 11 UEFA matches against French teams (1 draw, 3 losses). They have also won six of their last eight Champions League quarter-finals.
In Liverpool's previous 36 matches at UEFA against French teams, no match ended in a 0-0 draw.
Dominik Szoboszlai has scored in 5 of his last 8 appearances in the Champions League.
The first leg quarter-final match between PSG vs Liverpool will take place at 2:00 AM on April 9.
