Liverpool travels to PSG in the Champions League last-16 knowing that if it can get a positive result — essentially anything other than a defeat — that will set it up nicely for the second leg at Anfield the following week.
While facing PSG doesn’t feel like much of a reward for topping the group phase, having the second leg at home could be a decisive factor. In a tie that is likely to be tightly fought, it might tip the balance.
PSG might no longer be the all-star outfit that it was with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. But while the stardust has moved on, the team — managed by the excellent Luis Enrique — is functioning to a much higher level.
Its last defeat was at the end of November, away at Bayern Munich. It is unbeaten domestically and has won its last 10 games on the spin, including two 7-0 victories in that period.
“Enrique is a very special manager and it needs time to understand him,” RMC Sport reporter Valentin Jamin tells Liverpool.com. “Last year he tried lots of different and sometimes strange things, and lots of people asked why he did that.
“But we understood that he wants his players to be able to adapt a lot, to different positions and it’s a long job. One year ago, he repeated that his team was going to be better this year even without Mbappe. And it is: more collective, with more runs, and the players believe in what Enrique does.
“It looks like he loves being the boss. For example, he excluded Ousmane Dembele against Arsenal, and today he is PSG’s best attacker. Enrique always protects his team, especially in front of the journalists.
“Dembele became a goalscorer when he was not good in front of the goal three months ago. Bradley Barcola is very unbalancing and fast. But Paris is a very strong and collective team who runs a lot, fights every minute, and has a very technical midfield with Vitinha and Joao Neves.
(Image: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“There is no superstar and the superstar is the team. That is new and that is what Qatar wanted with this new phase of the project. We only talk about football and not about drama, contracts, etc.
“Even if Mbappe was a really, really important player, there were debates every day about him. Today it’s about football and the collective team.”
While in France, PSG is proving too hot to handle, the Champions League will be the true test of where the runaway Ligue 1 leader really is at. Its only defeats this season have come in Europe — against Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal. It finished 15th in the Champions League group phase, but had the hardest fixtures.
“PSG knew they would face one of the best two teams of the season — Liverpool or Barcelona — so it was not a surprise or a disappointment,” Jamin says. “The team knows it will have to be two huge games to reach the quarter-finals.
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“But it is true that Liverpool was the worst to play. In France, we talk about Liverpool as the best team of Europe who can beat everybody with Mohamed Salah, etc — but Enrique said it’s 50-50. We don’t hear PSG fans saying ‘We will beat Liverpool’. After the draw, the fans did not see PSG as the favorite but during the last few weeks, the team has played really, really well. The fans are much more confident now.”
There is one player, in particular, though, that PSG will not relish facing: Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian is in the form of his life and has the bit between his teeth.
“I think first Salah scares everybody because he is having an amazing season,” Jamin continues. “He is involved in more than one goal per game and Nuno Mendes can sometimes have some difficulties in defense.
“Also, Liverpool looks like being an intense team. Paris tries to be too so this aspect of the game will be interesting. But in the end, Liverpool has more experience and looks so strong and confident.”
