Best football.
That was Arne Slott’s memory of Liverpool. A very enjoyable meeting with Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League.
Although Liverpool were ultimately eliminated, losing on penalties in the Round of 16 at Anfield to win the competition for the first time, Slott loved the way his team played and still claims it was “the best game of my career”.
Some 12 months later, they met again in a completely different venue at Liverpool and Slot.
Indeed, the Dutch coach is as follows. fight for your job They will now play a quarter-final double-header against the European champions, starting with the first leg in Paris on Wednesday.
a Lost 4-0 to Manchester City Saturday’s result in the FA Cup was the latest underwhelming result for Liverpool in a season that initially started with high hopes after the club’s win. Record-breaking summer splurge of $570 million About the new players moving forward in their quest for the Premier League title.
The Champions League is their only chance of winning a trophy, as the Reds have long given up hope of retaining the league title.
In its current form, that seems unlikely.
Liverpool have lost four of their last seven games in all competitions in a string of results that increases the pressure on the slot, while PSG have won four of them. Consecutive wins against Chelsea Round of 16 of the Champions League (5-2 and 3-0).
Only one team has retained the Champions League since the turn of the century – Real Madrid won the Champions League three years in a row starting in 2016 – but PSG appear to be in good shape to achieve it.
Slott and Liverpool may be happy to have made it out of the Parc des Princes with a good chance of progressing to the second leg at Anfield.
There are three other quarter-final matches: Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon vs. Arsenal.
The heavyweights will gather early again
This is one of the unlikely facts of the Champions League. Madrid and Munich, who have won the title a total of 21 times, have yet to meet in the final.
That won’t be the case this season either.
However, it is only the sixth time in the past 14 seasons that two of Europe’s powerhouses have met in the knockout stages, making it a one-sided rivalry.
Madrid, who have won the league 15 times, have won all five matches against Bayern since the 2011-12 season, winning once in the last 16, once in the quarter-finals and three times in the semi-finals, most recently in 2024.
There may not be a better chance for Bayern to end their misery, given that the German champions are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions. Star striker Harry Kane missed Saturday’s game but is expected to be available. win over freiburg minor in Bundesliga ankle problems It was maintained at national team training last week.
Madrid are coming off a comfortable win over Man City in the round of 16, but recently 2-1 loss against Mallorca On Saturday, it hurt their hopes of winning the Spanish league.
Barcelona vs Atlético, over and over again
Players from Spanish rivals Barcelona and Atletico may be tired of seeing each other by next week’s second leg.
That’s because the upcoming Champions League double-header will see the completion of five intensive meetings between the teams over the course of two months, culminating in three games in 10 days.
On Saturday, Barcelona came from behind to beat Atlético 2-1 away, strengthening its hold on top of the Spanish league. They met in the Copa del Rey in February, with each side winning big at home, with Atlético advancing on aggregate.
The sides have met twice in the knockout stages of the Champions League, both times in the quarter-finals, with Atlético reaching the final each season in 2014 and 2016. Atletico also played the second leg at home.
The first leg of the current fixture will be played on Wednesday.
Gokeres returns to Sporting
fresh from Lead Sweden to the World CupArsenal striker Victor Gokeres will make his first return to the club that made him a world-famous striker.
At Sporting, Gokeres scored 97 goals in 102 games, including 54 last season, more than the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah. That’s quite a rise for a player who had barely appeared in any top-flight matches until now.
Since then join arsenal Scoring goals for $85 million hasn’t been easy – he’s scored 16 goals in 42 games in all competitions – but he remains first choice under manager Mikel Arteta, who values his quality as a line-leader.
And Gökeres will be brimming with confidence when he returns to Lisbon for Tuesday’s game after his recent heroics for Sweden, scoring a hat-trick against Ukraine and scoring a late goal in the winner-take-all play-off against Poland.
Sporting will be looking to capitalize on home advantage, as they did in the Round of 16, and complete their turnaround against Bodø/Glimt with a 5-0 win in the second leg, which was one of the great comebacks in the Champions League.
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