Marquinhos has sent a message to Liverpool, indicating that Paris Saint-Germain is hitting its stride after an emphatic 4-1 victory over Lille on Saturday evening. Liverpool is set to clash with the French giants in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, with the first leg scheduled at the Parc des Princes.
The Premier League frontrunners will then host the Ligue 1 table-toppers at Anfield on Tuesday March 11, vying for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Despite PSG’s mixed results in the Champions League group stage, where it won only half of its matches and faced a two-legged play-off against Brest to secure a last-16 berth, it has remained unbeaten in all competitions since a narrow 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in late November.
The latest win against Lille is a testament to the current form, which Marquinhos feels sets his side up perfectly for the upcoming battle with Liverpool.
“It’s a perfect scenario before a match like Liverpool’s,” he expressed to L’Equipe post-match, having netted PSG’s second goal that night. “We are in great shape, some players have returned to the team, all the lights are green.
“It’s a perfect scenario because we win and we have full confidence. We must not stop, the staff push us a lot to do our best.
“I don’t know if we sent a message today, our very good form has been going on for a while now. We really wanted to prepare very well for the Champions League and that’s what we did.
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“The coach is very demanding with us, we have a quality bench and everyone knows that if he is not good he will go to the bench. We really rely on a collective, it’s been a long time, we’ve progressed step by step, and now we’re ready to put on great performances like that. But there are always things to improve.”
Arne Slot’s team enjoyed a full week’s rest before their Wednesday night match, having had no FA Cup commitments over the weekend due to an early exit at the hands of Plymouth Argyle in February.
Like PSG, Liverpool is also enjoying a rich vein of form, sitting proudly at the top of the Premier League standings and eagerly anticipating a Carabao Cup final showdown with Newcastle United later in the month.
