Virgil van Dijk has prepared Liverpool supporters for the scale of the task ahead tonight, saying his team needs to produce “something very special” to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield.
The Champions League quarter-final second leg kicks off at 8pm UK time, with PSG holding aggregate advantage after a dominant display at the Parc des Princes last week that left Arne Slot’s side without a single shot on goal.
“I’m not happy with losing, but we have another game next week,” Van Dijk said after the first leg. “We had some chances to counter, but didn’t do it too well. Hopefully we can be a lot better — especially in possession — at Anfield next week. We have to produce a special performance next week. You see the quality they have and how good they can be.”
Liverpool’s task is historically comparable to their miraculous 2019 comeback against Barcelona, when they overturned a 3-0 deficit at Anfield. But that team contained a Salah operating at the height of his powers, and the Egyptian has been a peripheral figure in recent weeks, used from the bench in the first leg after Slot dropped him in response to their 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.
PSG, the reigning Champions League holders, are a more clinical unit than that Barcelona side. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been extraordinary throughout this tournament, becoming the first PSG player to score in four consecutive Champions League knockout games.
Désiré Doué, whose deflected effort opened the scoring in Paris, adds a further dimension of unpredictability going forward. Coach Luis Enrique publicly warned his players not to fall into a “trap” by treating the second leg as anything approaching a formality.
The atmosphere Anfield generates in European nights of significance remains one of football’s rare phenomena. Whether the wall of sound translates into goals against the depth of quality PSG possess is the central question tonight. Liverpool have nothing to lose and everything to play for, and that condition has historically produced their finest European performances.
