Surely still counting their lucky Parisian stars, Liverpool will play host to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 contest at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Arne Slot's men somehow left the French capital with a 1-0 win on their record from last week's first leg, where a super sub and a super goalkeeper were their heroes of the hour.
Match preview
© Imago
Try as they might for the full 90 minutes, an increasingly desperate PSG remarkably failed to breach the goal of an inspired Alisson Becker - barring an offside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia effort - as the long-serving Liverpool number one made a masterful nine saves at the Parc des Princes.
While Luis Enrique's side registered a total of zero goals from 27 shots, Liverpool headed home with the critical strike from just one of their two efforts on the evening, as Harvey Elliott punished PSG's wastefulness with a dramatic 87th-minute winner off the bench.
Only once before in the Champions League had a team won a knockout game despite having a shots difference of -25 or more, and winning the first leg has been a positive omen for Liverpool over the past two decades, as they have progressed from their last 14 Champions League ties when prevailing in the opening battle.
The 2001-02 Bayer Leverkusen side were the last to eliminate the Reds in such circumstances, but where PSG failed last Wednesday evening, Southampton succeeded on Saturday afternoon, as Will Smallbone capitalised on a rare defensive mix-up to give the Premier League's basement boys the lead.
However, Liverpool came out a different beast in the second 45 and levelled through Darwin Nunez before Mohamed Salah's game-winning brace from the penalty spot, which saw the extraordinary Egyptian become the Reds' third-highest scorer of all time and equal the record for the most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season.
The hosts' 3-1 fightback win over the Saints made it four victories on the spin across all competitions, but as was the case at the Parc des Princes, there were elements of that performance - especially in the first half - that should have PSG licking their lips.
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As surprising as Les Parisiens' first-leg loss may have been given their volume of opportunities, it was just the same old story for PSG in the Champions League, the one trophy that continues to elude them amid their non-stop spending sprees.
The perennial Ligue 1 champions can take inspiration from last year's tournament as they seek to complete a mesmerising comeback job on Tuesday, though, as they memorably lost 3-2 at home to Barcelona in the 2023-24 quarter-finals before advancing with a 4-1 second-leg success in Catalonia.
Coincidentally, Enrique's men thumped top-flight rivals Rennes by the same scoreline on Saturday, righting their attacking wrongs from the first leg as Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos netted before the dazzling Ousmane Dembele netted his 19th and 20th Ligue 1 goals of the season in added time.
By making light work of Les Rouges et Noir, PSG extended their winning run away from home to an astounding 13 matches across all competitions, including each of their last three in the Champions League, albeit to more modest opposition in Brest, Stuttgart and Red Bull Salzburg.
In fact, none of the last 15 French teams to face an English club away from home in Europe has managed to win, although PSG themselves were the last to do so against Manchester United in December 2020, offering further hope of a Merseyside turnaround unless Alisson has another self-professed 'best performance of his life'.
Team News
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Liverpool came out of their success over Southampton with no new concerns on the injury front, but Cody Gakpo was once again missing from the ranks due to his recent knock and is a serious doubt for the visit of the French champions.
Tyler Morton (shoulder), Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Conor Bradley (hamstring) make up a trio of guaranteed absentees for Slot, who bit the bullet at half time on Saturday and made no fewer than three half-time changes, including taking off Dominik Szoboszlai.
The Reds boss admitted afterwards that it may have been a mistake starting the Hungarian workhorse, who has seemingly reached his physical limit, so the door might be open for Paris hero Elliott to start in the number 10 position in midweek.
On the other hand, PSG come into the second leg without a single injury concern, giving Enrique the luxury of making multiple rotations for the meeting with Rennes as several big names were rested.
The electrifying Dembele will be among the senior starters to return to the fold, leading the line in place of Ramos, while Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes and Gianluigi Donnarumma are set to return after being dropped at the weekend too.
Reportedly admired by Liverpool, teenage sensation Warren Zaire-Emery captained Les Parisiens from a right-back role in the thrashing of Rennes, but the 19-year-old will now take his seat in the Anfield dugout.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Elliott, Diaz; Nunez
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Barcola
We say: Liverpool 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain (a.e.t, PSG win 3-2 on aggregate)
PSG's crop were allegedly left surprised at the level of Liverpool's performance in midweek, and while Anfield on Champions League nights can prove intimidating for any all foes, the Kop may be silenced on Tuesday.
Slot's side were nothing if not mediocre in the first half of their Southampton success and needed two Salah spot kicks to bail them out in the second half, but do not expect PSG to make similar mistakes in their own penalty area.
As Enrique is also blessed with a fully-fit squad and could afford to make numerous changes at the weekend, the visitors' refreshed options should rectify their first-leg attacking mistakes against their leggy visitors, and PSG therefore have our vote to progress at the end of a 120-minute marathon.
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Ben Knapton
