Arne Slot, manager of Liverpool, is looking forward to the challenge to face Paris Saint-Germain in the 16-year-old 16-year-old round in the Champions League next month.
The Reds could also have been combined with the Portuguese giants Benfica, but were pulled together with the French champions at the UEFA ceremony on Friday. PSG left a 10-0 overall victory over Brest over her two-legged play-off difference and have been unbeaten in all competitions since November.
“In this phase of the competition,” Slot told Liverpool’s official website, “the quality of the opponent will only have a very high standard and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with a real European family tree.
“At the beginning of this week, they qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League with a big win against Brest and had some really good results in the league phase and defeated Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona and Salzburg.”
The Slot site has equipped a sticker form – the draw on Wednesday with Aston Villa was Liverpool’s third away game in a row without a win. “As with ourselves, PSG are the tip of its domestic league and enjoy a long unbeaten run. This tells us everything we need to know about the challenge we will stand with, but it is also a challenge that we look forward to will know that we also fully deserve to be in the last 16.
“Of course, our immediate focus is on our upcoming games of the Premier League, starting with Manchester City on Sunday, but we will do everything we can to ensure that we are in the best possible form when the Champions League is resumed.”
Despite its impressive results, PSG is undoubtedly burdened by its historical failures in the leading competition of Europe. The French outfit has been expelled from the last 16 of the Champions League in five of the last eight seasons.
PSG skipper Marquinhos warned: “We have to contribute two great performances”, but was positive about the current iteration of a page that depends less on star names. “We are just starting the games, the team spirit is clearly there,” said the Brazilian defender.
“This is our strength now, regardless of the competition. Even if there are changes in the team, there is the same attitude and the same intensity. This is our great strength. We showed during the play-off that we enjoy a good magic . “