Liverpool vs PSG: Slot uses Man City to argue Champions League comeback is ‘not impossible’

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has used Manchester City’s win against his side in the FA Cup to explain how the Premier League side can swiftly transform their Champions League quarter-final tie against holders Paris Saint-Germain despite a 2-0 first-leg defeat.

Liverpool did not have an attempt on target at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, where the Ligue 1 leaders enjoyed 74% of possession and scored through Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to establish themselves as considerable favourites to reach a semi-final against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola’s team scored all of their goals within 19 minutes as they beat Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on April 4, while Slot also cited City’s 3-0 win at Chelsea on Sunday – when the goals came inside 18 minutes – and Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Galatasaray in the Champions League round of 16, having lost the away first leg 1-0.

“After the first 35 minutes at the Etihad, did you expect us to be 4-0 down 20 minutes later?” asked Slot, explaining why he has confidence his side can spring a surprise at Anfield on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

“I watched Chelsea against City – did you expect, 20 minutes after half-time, that City would be three goals up?

“Would you expect us, after our performance at Galatasaray… we could have scored eight or nine against Galatasaray here.

“The number of times we’ve shown that we can be much better than we were at Paris Saint-Germain is clear.”

Analysis: ‘Difficult’ for Liverpool to press PSG

After winning 1-0 at PSG in the first leg of the last 16 in 2024/25 through their only attempt on target, Liverpool lost the second leg 1-0 at Anfield to Ousmane Dembele’s 12th-minute goal, ultimately going out on penalties against Luis Enrique’s team.

“People will probably find it very hard but the approach is not so different to what it was in Paris,” Slot said of last week’s result, calling the challenge “more complicated but not impossible”.

“People who know me know I never put out a team and tell them to go to a low block for 90 minutes. You could see we pushed them high on multiple occasions.

“Unfortunately, seven or eight of those moments led to them being one-on-one to our goalkeeper. To get the ball off them, you need to press them.

“We saw how difficult it is to press these players, but that was the same last season. To get the ball back, you have to do so many things well before your attackers can attack.”

Slot: PSG ‘will try to score first’ vs Liverpool

Slot congratulated a reporter who observed the complexities of balancing an attacking approach with containing the likes of PSG full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.

“Wow,” replied the Dutchman. “For a journalist, that’s quite good tactical thinking. [PSG] combine pace, endurance and ability on the ball in any position except for the goalkeeper [Matvei Safonov] – although maybe he can run, but I haven’t seen that.

“We’ve been able to score more than two goals once in a while. Let’s first focus in the job in hand, and that is starting aggressively and making sure we can get back into the tie.

“The best way of doing so is scoring the first goal. You’re going to tell me that last season [PSG] scored the first goal over here.

“I know they will try to score the first goal but that’s definitely what we are going to try, as well.”

Here’s how PSG’s possession and passing numbers compared with the next-nearest teams in those respects in this season’s competition before the return matches in the quarter-finals.

Will home advantage inspire Liverpool in Champions League?

Slot has faced disquiet from fans for much of a campaign that has been underwhelming by the standards of his title-winning first season in charge in 2025/26, although Liverpool strengthened their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League via their league placing by beating Fulham 2-0 at home on Saturday.

PSG have not played since the first leg and Slot emphasised that the hosts have to be “much, much, much better” than they were in Paris.

“Their players have experienced Anfield, so they think they know what is coming up,” he theorised. “I can only hope our fans can find an extra gear compared to last year [against PSG].

“I argue if it’s possible because the atmosphere last season was unbelievable. I think our fans are up for it because then [the PSG] players get what they don’t expect.

“I think I can trust them [to be] even louder than last season.”

Here are five of Liverpool’s recent comebacks in the Champions League.

Where to watch Liverpool vs PSG: TV channel, live online streams

Kick-off on Tuesday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on Prime Video.

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Liverpool vs PSG stats

• The teams have met six times in European competition, with each side prevailing three times and Paris winning both two‑legged ties between the clubs (3-2 on aggregate in the 1996/97 Cup Winners’ Cup semi‑finals and on penalties in last season’s Champions League round of 16)
• PSG have won their last four Champions League quarter-final ties and their last six two-legged ties in the competition
• At 20 years and 31 days of age, Warren Zaire‑Emery could become the youngest player ever to reach 40 Champions League appearances, surpassing the record held by Jude Bellingham (21 years 164 days)
• Kvaratskhelia has scored in three successive Champions League knockout stage matches for PSG, netting four goals across those games
• None of PSG’s 60 knockout matches in the competition have finished 0-0, while none of Liverpool’s 36 games in Europe against French teams have finished goalless
• Liverpool have won seven of their last 11 European matches against French teams (D1 L3).
• Only Manchester United (19) have featured in more quarter-finals in the competition than Liverpool (18)
• Reds midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has scored in five of his last eight Champions League appearances
• Since drawing 0-0 with Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter‑finals in April 2021, Liverpool have gone 51 consecutive European matches without a goalless game
• Six of their last eight Champions League quarter-final ties have ended victoriously