Rio Ngmoja could start for Liverpool against PSG (Image: Getty)
Arne Slott believes Rio Ngmoja is mature enough to handle the big moment as Liverpool host Paris Saint-Germain for a place in the Champions League semi-finals. Ngmoha scored his second goal of the season as the Reds beat Fulham 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday, but calls for the exciting winger to be used more often have been growing for weeks.
Liverpool face European champions PSG on Tuesday night despite falling 2-0 down in the first leg in Paris last week, but Slott believes Ngumoha, who doesn’t celebrate his 18th birthday until August, will remain unfazed against the current holders. The Dutchman explained: “Well, I think he can cope[with this match]. First of all, because of his personality, he doesn’t get distracted easily. He’s coming[senior]so I think everyone who knows his background has expectations around him for many years.”
“He was able to keep his focus on football as he got better, stronger and ready to score his first goal at the age of 16 and make multiple starts for Liverpool’s first team at the age of 17.
“The second thing is his quality. He has proven at the highest level, in the Premier League and the Champions League, that he is capable of playing one-on-one and making it difficult for the defenders he faces.”
“He’s doing a very good job of managing what’s coming his way right now, but it also helps that he has a lot of experienced players around him, as he does in the dressing room.”
Ngmoha etched his name into the record books as the club’s youngest ever goalscorer, at just 16 years and 361 days old, in late August when he scored the dramatic winning goal in the 100th minute against Newcastle. And Slott insisted Liverpool’s entire squad could do “something special” and pull off a memorable comeback against Europe’s reigning champions.
Goals from Désiré Due and Hviča Kvaratschelia gave PSG a commanding advantage in the quarter-final draw ahead of the second leg on Merseyside.
Arne Slott spoke at the pre-match press conference. (Image: Getty)
Slott admits his side need to improve significantly after last week’s game in the French capital, but believes another iconic European night at Anfield is well within reach. “Yes, we have faith that we can do something special tomorrow,” Slott said.
“But we will have to be very, very special tomorrow in order to achieve that, because we are playing against the European champions. So the task becomes more complex, but not impossible. I think (the fans) need to be much better than last week, because as important as our performance is.”
“And I think the experienced players who went through Anfield last year know what’s going to happen, so I just hope the fans can find an extra gear compared to last season.
“I would argue if that is possible because the atmosphere last season was incredible, but I think our fans are buying in to make it even louder, which is what is needed.”
“Because their players can get results that they did not expect, which is, first of all, a better performance. I think they will expect that, by the way, because it was almost impossible to play at the same level again. And our fans, too, if they are even more vocal than they were last season, I think I can trust them.”
Slott added: “Where do you get your belief? One, two, 10 or 200 examples? Did you expect to be down 4-0 at Etihad in the first 35 minutes and 20 minutes later?”
“After losing 1-0 against Galatasaray, can we hope that in another game we could have scored eight or nine points at home? So it’s clear how many times we were able to prove that we could be much better than against PSG.
“We showed again on Saturday against Fulham how important goals are to turn the tide. We were the best team on the pitch, but for the next 10 minutes we were evenly matched, we scored a goal and 10 minutes later we got another goal.
“Goals can change momentum. Against Fulham at Anfield on Saturday, against the Etihad, something negative happened in a positive way.”
