{"id":592723,"date":"2026-04-08T04:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592723\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T04:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:53:08","slug":"arne-slot-backs-his-liverpool-side-to-go-toe-to-toe-with-psg-in-champions-league-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592723\/","title":{"rendered":"Arne Slot backs his Liverpool side to go \u2018toe-to-toe\u2019 with PSG in Champions League | Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arne Slot has warned Liverpool will suffer another emphatic defeat should they switch off against Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday evening but believes his toiling team can save their season by going \u201ctoe-to-toe\u201d with the European champions.<\/p>\n

The pressure on Liverpool and their head coach has intensified following Saturday\u2019s 4-0 capitulation against Manchester City<\/a> in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Florian Wirtz disagreed with the captain Virgil van Dijk\u2019s damning assessment that Liverpool \u201cgave up<\/a>\u201d at the Etihad Stadium, but both the \u00a3116m playmaker and Slot admitted there can be no repeat of that performance at Parc des Princes.<\/p>\n

Slot, who will have Alexander Isak on the bench after four months out injured, claimed Luis Enrique\u2019s team have improved since winning PSG\u2019s first Champions League title last season<\/a> and will punish any lapses from Liverpool. He challenged his players to \u201cstand up again\u201d and respond to the City embarrassment immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time we have 15-20 minutes in a game where we don\u2019t play our best football and it is not the first time we immediately get punished by a goal, sometimes one or two,\u201d Slot said of Saturday\u2019s collapse. \u201cThis time it was four, the only four chances we gave up by the way. But the first 35 minutes gives me a lot of confidence that we can go toe-to-toe with teams [like City] and PSG who, for me, are the hardest to play against in open play. I have to say it like that, because of their quality and the way they are managed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can tell you that if we have the 20 minutes we had at City here, we will again concede four goals because these PSG players know how to act if we are having a 20-minute period like that. So it is a challenge for us to be from the first to the last second at the level we were at in the first 35 minutes. If not, it is going to be a really hard night, like it was on Saturday. Last year [in the Champions League last 16] we completely deserved to lose 4-0 here or maybe more, but that is the beauty of football that we scored a goal in the 85th minute<\/a> and it was almost like this was a robbery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander Isak is expected to be named among Liverpool\u2019s substitutes after four months out. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Slot claimed he had no issue with Van Dijk\u2019s analysis of the City defeat: \u201cIt was good that the captain has a strong and firm reaction after a game like that. We have to have a strong and firm reaction too.\u201d That sentiment was not shared by Wirtz, however, who claimed to be unaware of Van Dijk\u2019s comment about the team giving up at a certain point against City and in disagreement with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know about this, that he said this, but I think I would not agree directly because we still tried to create chances to turn the game around,\u201d said the Germany international. \u201cOf course when the game gets longer and you are 3-0 back or something in the 80th minute [it was 4-0 after 57 minutes] then mentally it is difficult to go and go. At 3-0 and 4-0 we still had a few chances but this is not our standards that we lose 4-0 against City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still believe in ourselves. We have a good group with good characters and great players, also a good manager who tries to prepare us good for the game. The second game at home is maybe an advantage so we try to do our best and come with a good result to Anfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liverpool have won only once in five matches, at home to Galatasaray in the last-16 second leg at Anfield<\/a>, and the manner of the FA Cup defeat \u2013 with four goals conceded in 18 minutes and fans streaming for the exits after 57 minutes \u2013 invited the question of whether the team is still playing for Slot. \u201cYes of course we are believing in the manager,\u201d replied Wirtz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team should believe in the manager because they won the league last season. We had a lot of good games this season. We wanted it to be better but we still have things to play for. Everything I can see is that we believe in the manager and we will give our best on the pitch tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Wirtz and Slot made frequent mentions of keeping the tie alive for next week\u2019s second leg at Anfield and the head coach could make changes \u2013 in personnel and formation \u2013 in response to the City defeat. But what can pull Liverpool<\/a> out of their slump, Slot maintained, is character. \u201cThis club has always shown that they stand up again in tough moments,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of tough moments this season and stood up a few times, but then fallen down again. So we have to show that mentality again of just keep going and picking yourself up after a disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is easier said than done but this group has shown many times it can come back after setbacks. And this club has done it many, many times. Apart from the quality my team has \u2013 and PSG has too \u2013 my team has shown many times in big games, with the exception of twice at the Etihad, that we can compete with the best teams in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arne Slot has warned Liverpool will suffer another emphatic defeat should they switch off against Paris Saint-Germain in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-592723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}