On Saturday at Anfield, supporters groups like Spirit of Shankly were fighting the good fight by handing out leaflets calling on fans to punish the owners and not spend a pound in the ground in protest at ticket prices.
Three days later, Arne Slot might be well-served spending the hours before kick-off giving out flyers of his own akin to Lord Kitchener’s cry in 1914.
‘Liverpool FC wants you,’ it could read, Slot’s face super-imposed on to the First World War recruitment advertisements.
Liverpool, Slot, captain Virgil van Dijk, departing Mohamed Salah, owner John W Henry (bearing the brunt of the criticism this week due to those price hikes), everyone else on the pitch or in the dugout… they need the fans.
Now as much as ever in the last decade, one of those famed Anfield nights under the lights is a must. If they are to overturn a two-goal deficit to topple Paris Saint-Germain, the European champions, all the help they can get will be handy.
Protesting against ticket prices is completely fair and the fans should not back down until the owners are forced to listen. Likewise for the complaints at Slot, the club hierarchy and the squad for this below-par season. But when the sun sets over L4 on Tuesday night, that all needs to be parked and the only thing that matters will be creating the fervent, unwelcoming cauldron that has seen many elite teams wilt at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool were well beaten in the first leg of their quarter-final last week, with Paris Saint-Germain running out 2-0 winners
Fan sentiment has not always been with Slot this season but he will need Anfield more than ever to keep Liverpool’s Champions League hopes alive
Looking objectively at the second leg against Luis Enrique’s side, the Parisiens probably win nine times out of 10. Many neutrals are asking questions along the lines of ‘What if PSG score early?’ or ‘What if they click and hit a cricket score?’. But what if they don’t? What if it’s another famous Anfield night?
‘The fans will probably be the most important factor, together with our performance,’ said captain Virgil van Dijk. ‘I’ve been very lucky to experience those nights where the connection between the fans and the performance has been unbelievable.
‘We need something very special to happen otherwise we will have no chance. If we play like we did in Paris, then we will have no chance anyway in my opinion. There is an opportunity on Tuesday to come up with a good game plan and fight for it for 90-plus minutes. I am really looking forward to it. It’s a privilege to be in the quarter-finals regardless. We shouldn’t take that for granted. We have to remember we are Liverpool. We have to make it a memorable night.’
They did so against Barcelona in 2019, when the Reds were 3-0 down from the Nou Camp leg and thumped Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Co 4-0. That was a bigger mountain to climb but arguably Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were better-equipped to scale to the summit back then.
Slot has spent the build-up to this match telling his team how they have scored at least twice in 36 of the last 50 home matches, and that’s the bare minimum needed tonight. The dressing-room leaders Van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah will have told tales about the famous comeback against the Catalans. The newer boys, like Dominik Szoboszlai, are also drumming up belief.
Liverpool’s player-of-the-season-elect said: ‘My message to (the fans) is that we are going to go all in. I can speak for all the players. We want it so bad. We work for it so badly and in one game anything can happen at Anfield.’
Slot, along the same theme, said: ‘Yes there is a belief we can do special things tomorrow. But we have to be very, very, very special tomorrow to achieve that as we are playing against the champions of Europe. That makes the task more complicated but not impossible.’
Pressure has eased slightly on Slot after a swing weekend in the Premier League saw them climb four points clear of Chelsea in the race for Champions League football. Finishing fifth will not mask the fact it has been a rotten campaign but it at least puts a positive spin on things. Beating PSG, however, completely starts to change the complexion and will give the fans a team to be proud of once more.
Liverpool need a fightback almost on par with the 2019 semi-final, when they turned around a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Barcelona
Rio Ngumoha is just 17 but every week is making a stronger case to be thrown in from the start
Slot’s gamble on a back five in Paris last week did not pay off – will he stick with it tonight?
As everyone in the building acknowledges, it will not be easy. Getting the ball off them is hard enough, as the likes of Vitinha and Joao Neves are majestic to watch. The front three are almost impossible to track due to their fluidity, while full backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are frightening for any team to defend against. But as seen in last year’s run to becoming champions, they do concede chances.
Visiting boss Enrique, a Champions League winner with Barcelona and PSG as a manager, is worried that this match could be ‘a trap’. Liverpool must pounce on those frailties – if any appear – and be efficient. Slot has some big selection calls to make. Does he stick with the 4-3-3 he returned to at the weekend or return to the 4-2-2-2 he has applied recently, or even the more defensive 5-2-3 he used in Paris?
Who starts at right back, the exciting and fast Jeremie Frimpong or more experienced and defensively sound Joe Gomez? Does Salah, benched in France, start? What about 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, who was man of the match against Fulham on Saturday?
Luck will need to be on Liverpool’s side. If either team replicates their performance of last week, there will only be one winner. But as Slot says, a comeback is not impossible. Why not believe?
