Arne Slot accepts Liverpool can be nothing short of “exceptional” if they are to add to the list of magical European nights at Anfield against Paris St Germain on Tuesday.
Liverpool failed to register a shot on target and were outclassed in the French capital last week as European champions PSG claimed a 2-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
But the Reds have staged several unlikely European comebacks, most recently overturning a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona by winning 4-0 on Merseyside en route to lifting the Champions League trophy in 2019.
Slot also pointed out that in his 50 home matches in charge, Liverpool have scored two or more goals on 36 occasions, as a reason to believe all is not lost when they welcome Luis Enrique’s side.
“It felt completely different but the result was (only) 2-0,” Slot said. “We have shown so many times this season in big games we are able to get a great performance.
“In the home games over the last year-and-a-half, in 36 we have scored two goals or more.
“We have not played all these games against Paris St Germain, but the Premier League and Champions League opponents we had were very strong.
“There is a belief we can do special things but we know we need to be very, very, very special. We know we need an exceptional performance, but that’s normal if you’re playing the champions of Europe.”
Despite a lacklustre display at the Parc des Princes, Slot suggested he will not tear up the script in the return meeting against a side who knocked them out at the last-16 stage last season.
“People probably find it very hard to believe what I’m going to say now, but the approach is not so different for tomorrow than it was to Paris,” the Dutchman said.
“I never put out a team and tell them to go into a low block for 90 minutes. If you look at the game back, we really pressed them high on multiple occasions.
“The approach tomorrow will be to take the risk, because that’s first of all what we need, but to get the ball off them, you need to press them and we saw how difficult it is to press these players.”
Liverpool’s loss to PSG was their third in a row following hot on the heels of their humiliating exit in the FA Cup after a 4-0 quarter-final defeat at Manchester City earlier this month.
However, they rebounded by defeating Fulham 2-0 on Saturday and Slot feels the first goal on Tuesday could go a long way to deciding who advances to face either Bayern Munich or Read Madrid in the semis.
“We have shown that we can be much better than we were against PSG,” Slot said. “A goal can change momentum, which happened in a negative way at the Etihad and in a positive way on Saturday.”
Teenager Rio Ngumoha starred against the Cottagers, scoring a superb goal, and Slot is confident the 17-year-old would be able to handle the occasion if he is retained in the starting XI.
“He can cope (against PSG), first of all because of his personality, he doesn’t get distracted,” Slot added. “Everyone who knows his history more knows he has had a lot of expectation for many years.
“He’s always been able to focus on football and become better and stronger. At 17 he has already had multiple starts for Liverpool and the second thing is his quality.”
