Arne Slot believes Anfield can help inspire Liverpool to a famous Champions League comeback against Paris St Germain after his team entered “survival mode” to escape the quarter-final first leg with a 2-0 defeat.
Having arrived in France bruised by their 4-0 FA Cup humiliation at Manchester City, the Reds’ passive performance at Parc des Princes could easily have been punished by more than Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s goals.
Under-fire boss Slot knows Liverpool rode their luck in a one-sided first leg in France, where the reigning Premier League champions secured a smash-and-grab 1-0 last-16 win last season.
PSG eventually prevailed on penalties after winning by the same scoreline at Anfield, where the Dutchman felt the power of a European night under the lights that they can harness in next Tuesday’s return fixture.
Asked about their chances of progressing to the semi-finals, Slot said: “Probably I have to refer to last season, what gives me the best feeling and I have to refer to the history of this club, how much impact Anfield can make for a performance.
“We were outplayed here last season, which led to a 1-0 win from us which was unbelievable. Paris St Germain was by far the better team today, could have scored more than two goals.
“But the good thing was that the players of Liverpool showed fighting spirit, kept going.
“Almost every time they had a shot, we had a lot of players behind the ball or protecting our box, which was necessary because if you don’t run back, these players, like the ones from City, are able to hurt you a lot.
“Last season at Anfield we played a completely different game and after 10 minutes could have been 2-0 up.
“But we need to have a) a better performance and b) we definitely need our fans to help us to create an atmosphere where we can rise to a better level than we did so today.”
Slot believes “everything is possible”, but knows struggling Liverpool face an uphill battle next week.
“We were in survival mode for large parts of the game – maybe also in the period of the season we are in,” the Reds boss said.
“We are in survival mode, to find ways where we can try to make sure that their qualities are not seen that much.
“But that’s really, really hard against this team because last year over here we were in survival mode as well.
“But, as I said, Paris St Germain was the better team, but we didn’t give up and that is why we still have a chance now because they kept us alive by not scoring a few open chances.”
The need to prevent a bad night getting any worse is why Slot says he left departing star Mohamed Salah on the bench.
“In the last part of the game it was more about us surviving than there was ever a chance of scoring,” Slot added.
“You never know because last season we scored five minutes before the end, but I think this was 20, 25 minutes where we only defending.
“Mo has so much qualities but to be 20, 25 minutes defending in his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for other tough games coming up.”
As for PSG, head coach Luis Enrique will hope missed chances do not return to haunt them.
“It was an incredible atmosphere, an incredible performance,” he said. “We deserved more goals. We’re a bit disappointed not to have scored more, but this is the Champions League.”
