Exclusive: “Super Aggressive.” – Julien Laurens On PSG Approach Ahead Of Liverpool UCL Clash | OneFootball

By Leah Bower

With both teams sitting 13 points clear of their domestic leagues, Paris Saint-Germain host Liverpool for the first leg of the round of 16 on Wednesday night in what is set to be one of the biggest clashes of the season.

‘It could have very well been a Champions League final’ said PSG boss, Luis Enrique, as the Reds and the Paris side are in incredible form.

PSG’s only losses this season have come from the Champions League, something the Reds will hope to capitalise on.

Dan spoke to French football journalist, Julien Laurens, about PSG’s form this season, what Slot’s team can expect, and his predictions over the two legs.

The Redmen TV are proudly partnered with Dr. Emrah Cinik

On PSG’s form this season:

“This is the best football they’ve played under Luis Enrique since he arrived 18 months ago at the club.

“I think the turning point might be that win against [Manchester] City in the league phase … they haven’t looked back since that City win.

“This is really the start of the project. Now there’s no more Mbappé, no Messi, no Neymar, which is what Luis Enrique wanted.

“He’s always said this team is going to be better as a team, certainly without all those superstars, and I think he’s right now.

“A lot of people have said to me recently, ‘Oh, I hated your team for a long time, but now it’s fun watching them’, which is a win in itself.”

Will Liverpool be in the market for a new left-back?

On the Champions League:

“This is not a team that can win the Champions League this season.

“They seem to be ahead of schedule really because of how they’re playing right now.

“Are they ready to be able to compete over two games with a team like Liverpool? We’ll have the answer now, but they might just not be ready yet.”

Against Liverpool:

“[Enrique] said we won’t be scared… they really want to enjoy those two games.

“If Liverpool are better, Liverpool are better. There’s no shame in being knocked out by Liverpool, the best team in Europe right now.

“[PSG’s] game is being super aggressive.”

On what to watch out for:

“When we talk about the team that should start on Wednesday, there will be a couple of question marks over who Luis Enrique goes for in midfield and upfront.

“I think Vitinha is literally the one that makes this team click and that everything goes through him.

“I think at some point he would be so good – that even as much as I would love him to stay forever at PSG, he can go to a better club like Liverpool without a doubt.

“To face Trent and Robertson, which I think is where PSG can hurt Liverpool, it has to be Barcola and Dembélé, or if Dembélé plays central, then Doué or Kvaratskhelia.

“Another key area, of course, like a Barcola-Alexander-Arnold kind of match-up, the match-up between Nuno Mendes and Salah.

“I would not say that Nuno Mendes’ best attribute is his defending. He’s a bit like Trent, he’s so good going forward, he’s super quick, he’s quite physical, but in one-on-one situations, at times, he struggles a bit.

“Salah coming to his left foot, so inside, could be a bit of a problem, I think, for Nuno.”

On what Liverpool could exploit:

“Balls over the top, runs from Szoboszlai from deep, runs from Luis Diaz again, in behind, that is to be expected.

“Donnarumma and PSG are not the best on set pieces.

“Expect a high press, like a man-to-man press straight away.

“That’s why it’ll be so much fun, I think, because there are two attacking sides that go for it, really.”

On the atmosphere:

“Even the ultras now prefer this team to the team with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe. Even with how great that looked on paper, it was not that much fun because everybody knew how unbalanced the team was and how fractured the team was.

“There were those three up front, and then there were the rest of the team.

“The atmosphere is even better at the stadium than I think it was for a very long time because everybody’s on board.

“I mean, I don’t mean this is better than Anfield on a great night, I’m just saying that the flares, the banners, the tifos, the constant singing from all sides of the stadium, it’s just going to be great again on Wednesday.

“There will be 3,000 Liverpool fans there who will make noise of their own, of course. Just expect a wonderful atmosphere with colours and sound and singing all the time.”

Predictions:

“I think you could even make PSG maybe slightly favourable for the first legs only, to take an advantage in this game. You know, you could see them winning 2-1, 3-2, something like that.

“I think over the two legs, as much as you know, my heart obviously bleeds PSG, I would want us to go through. I do wonder if this is just a little bit too early for this PSG team.

“I think physically the one that falters the first might pay for it at some point. So, it’ll be fascinating.

“I would go for a Liverpool 5-4 win in aggregate over the two legs.”

Redmen Reacts

A 5-4 scoreline is honestly quite a realistic outcome of this tie. With both teams prolific in their pressing and goalscoring but potentially weak in their fullback’s defensive abilities, there are bound to be goals coming from all over the place.

Dembélé is an obvious concern and the threat from their wingers should be ringing alarm bells at the AXA.

Hopefully a fully fit Gravenberch, Macallister and Szoboszlai can contain the danger of Vitinha in the midfield and be able to minimise his vital impact to this PSG side.

The likes of Virgil and Konate could offer the Reds some defensive stability and the amount of our goals could depend on our entire front 3 showing up, but this could easily be one of the most exciting games we’ve seen so far under Slot.