Revealed: The incredible Champions League stat that could prove VERY bad news for PSG’s chances against Liverpool at Anfield
- French media has played up PSG’s chances of overturning Liverpool’s 1-0 lead
- But the Ligue 1 champions will need to create history to advance on Tuesday
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! With the Premier League likely securing five Champions League spots, are we rewarding mediocrity?
Paris Saint-Germain will have to achieve a feat that no club has ever managed in 39 attempts against Liverpool if they are to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night.
The runaway Premier League leaders, who sit with a 15-point advantage over Arsenal with nine games to go, take a slender advantage into Tuesday’s crucial Champions League second leg against the French champions after snatching a dramatic 1-0 victory last week.
The first leg, which was described by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher as ‘one of the biggest robberies you will ever see in football’, saw Arne Slot’s side escape Paris with a narrow lead thanks to substitute Harvey Elliott’s 87th-minute strike — but the Reds were undeniably second-best throughout the contest against a dominant PSG.
French newspapers played up PSG’s chances of advancing to the quarter-finals at Anfield on Tuesday, with L’Equipe branding the task ‘Mission Possible’ and insisting the Ligue 1 champions had every chance of ‘overthrowing’ the Reds in their own ‘kingdom’ after an impressive display against them last week.
History would, however, tell French media to hamper their expectations, as Liverpool have never lost a tie in a European competition after triumphing in an away first leg.
Slot will be eager to make Tuesday night the 40th time this has occurred in Liverpool’s rich European history, with PSG’s trip to Anfield coming just five days before the club’s huge Carabao Cup final against Newcastle at Wembley.
Liverpool head into Tuesday’s crucial second leg at Anfield with a narrow 1-0 lead over PSG
‘One of the biggest robberies you will ever see in football’: PSG dominated the first leg but were left to rue missed chances after Liverpool snatched a late winner at the Parc de Princes
PSG will have to achieve a feat that no club has ever managed in 39 attempts against Liverpool if they are to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night
To make matters worse for Luis Enrique’s side, Liverpool have also won each of their last four European games at Anfield, beating Bologna, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven there during the Champions League group phase.
Liverpool will no doubt need to put in a more commanding performance on Tuesday than they did during the first leg in Paris, which saw Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker put in one of the greatest performances of his career.
PSG had 27 shots to Liverpool’s two before Elliott’s winner consigned the French side to the frustrating first-leg defeat, with the Brazilian forced to make a series of stunning saves to deny the likes of Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in attack.
Although the loss was hard to swallow, PSG’s lively display last week has given French media plenty of confidence ahead of the second leg.
‘Magnificent last week, despite the defeat, PSG knew how to maintain hope. At Anfield on Tuesday evening, the Parisians seem capable of overthrowing Liverpool in their kingdom,’ L’Equipe wrote on their front cover.
‘[It is] the moment for PSG to reveal themselves to themselves, and to the world.
‘Liverpool’s boys can contort themselves to say what the substance of the first leg was, but in their eyes the naked truth is that they did not expect it, and they did not imagine being run over to such proportions.
‘In most areas that matter, PSG were far above the Reds.’
Slot will head into the Champions League second leg with confidence, knowing that Liverpool have never lost a tie in a European competition after triumphing in an away first leg
‘Mission Possible’: Bullish French media played up PSG’s chances of overturning the deficit
In the 16 matches Liverpool have played against French teams at Anfield, the Reds have won 13, drawn once and lost twice – with those defeats coming against Marseille in 2008 and Lyon in 2009.
However, the last time Liverpool met a Ligue 1 side in a knockout tie, they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate, losing against Lille in the Europa League’s last-16 back in 2010.
