“There’s no-one better…” – Steven Gerrard urges Liverpool to seize ‘opportunity’ against PSG
Steven Gerrard has said that Liverpool’s match against Paris Saint-Germain tonight represents an ideal ‘opportunity’ to prove a point to their detractors.
The Reds resume their Champions League campaign off the back of a 4-0 drubbing by Manchester City in the FA Cup and begin the quarter-final tie as rank outsiders in the eyes of many, with Christophe Dugarry expecting it to be ‘a walk in the park‘ for PSG.
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However, Vladimir Smicer has boldly proclaimed his belief that Arne Slot’s side will avenge their penalty shootout defeat to the French giants from last season, and his fellow hero of Istanbul 2005 is also striking a defiant note ahead of the first leg in Paris.
Gerrard urges Liverpool to prove a point against PSG
Speaking from the Parc des Princes for TNT Sports‘ match coverage, Gerrard has implored Liverpool to view it as a chance to make a powerful statement to their critics, rather than being overawed by the challenge of trying to topple the Champions League holders.
The former Reds captain said: “What a game, what a stage, what an opportunity to bounce back and show everyone who is saying bad things and criticising the team [for] Liverpool [to show they] can be a good team and mix it with the best. There’s no-one better to do it against than PSG.”
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Liverpool have shown they can rise to the biggest challenges
It’s a long time since LFC went into a European tie with such little expectation of progressing, but paradoxically that could work in their favour.
Gerrard was in the Liverpool team which repeatedly defied the odds in 2004/05 to eliminate Juventus and Chelsea and then overcome a star-studded AC Milan side in the Champions League final that season, despite the Reds being so poor domestically.
Both then and now, Europe has been our saving grace in an otherwise turgid campaign, and the current crop have beaten the likes of Arsenal, Real Madrid and Inter Milan in the past few months, so they’ve proven capable of rising to the strongest challenges.
As clichéd as it sounds, it’s essential that Slot’s team keep it tight at the outset and don’t let PSG enjoy an early lead in the tie and a platform to go on and destroy Liverpool, who’ve been rather poor at coming back from losing positions this season.
Right now, we’d settle for the Reds keeping the tie alive going into the second leg at Anfield next Tuesday, but if one club is capable of pulling an unexpected heroic performance out of the bag in a European knockout tie, it’s LFC.
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