When I heard the remarks from the PSG players and manager after the first leg, their arrogance really hit me, John Aldridge tells the ECHO.
You’re looking at a club that has never clinched a major trophy, so for them to say what they did post-match… They should have won, but they didn’t. We caught them off guard. And they’ve shown such disrespect towards us and Anfield.
And I’m hoping the fans react on Wednesday night and the players win their individual battles. We will play better, we will pass it better. And if we win our individual battles, we’ll win the game because we’re a superior team than them.
What they’ve said is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I’m excited for tomorrow, obviously, but if I were a player or the manager, I’d be livid. I’d want to go out and really show them on Wednesday night.
They’ve handed Arne Slot an easy team talk. I did it at Tranmere when we faced Bolton in the semi-finals of the League Cup. It was huge for us, little Tranmere Rovers, to get to Wembley.
We went to Bolton, won 1-0 and I thought we played very well. But we received some derogatory comments from their camp. I got hold of the Bolton Evening News. It’s old-school, but I had Les Parry distribute them around the dressing room.
(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
I didn’t need a team talk. I just pointed out what he said, what he said, what he said. There you go, it’s up to you. In the first 20 minutes, we were 2-0 up. Game over. We thrashed them.
The players will be discussing what PSG players have said in the dressing room. Virgil’s the one who will relay it to them. So win your battles, don’t let them bully you, don’t let them get the best of you. There are three or four really crucial combats in this game.
We have to win our battles. Especially in midfield. We can’t be any worse than last week. That’s as bad as I’ve seen and I was gobsmacked we won 1-0. Imagine if we play well!
Last few games, we’ve not been at it but if we play like we did against Man City or Real Madrid, we’ll beat them. They are a good team but we made them look better than they are. They have some brilliant players. The crowd will do its part, I’m pretty sure about that. And PSG won’t know what’s hit them.
