Liverpool Comeback Against PSG ‘Very Doable’ Insists Former Red
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Former Liverpool star Jason McAteer has conceded that another Paris Saint Germain goal would have made a comeback daunting, but he insisted that a two-goal deficit remains doable ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
On Wednesday night, the Merseyside outfit touched down in Paris to face PSG at the Parc des Princes, enduring a night to forget in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Slot made a tactical switch against the defending champions, deploying Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez as wing-backs alongside a three-man defence, with Virgil Van Dijk as the central anchor, a setup in which he struggled, according to a former top-flight defender.
The Reds failed to register a single shot on target, while the Parisians unleashed six efforts on goal, leaving Liverpool to head back home with a 2-0 deficit to claw back if they are to fulfil Phil Thompson’s prediction of Champions League glory this season.
In the 70th minute, Warren Zaire-Emery went down in the visitors’ box, but the referee did not award the penalty, sparing Liverpool from falling further behind and leaving the scoreline at 2-0 instead of a possible 3-0 hammering.
McAteer implied that, considering the Reds’ current standing and fragile confidence, a three-goal deficit against PSG would likely have been beyond them, with a comeback demanding exceptional resilience.
However, the former Ireland midfielder maintained that a two-goal deficit heading into the second leg at Anfield, particularly with the backing of the home crowd, remains within reach.
He added that the atmosphere generated by the home crowd could yet galvanise Slot’s men into delivering the required performance, while conceding that the outcome still hangs in the balance.
McAteer said on LFC TV’s Reaction (19:43): “I think 3-0, the position we’re in at the minute, with low confidence and all the ways that we used in the pre-build-up, resilience and all, I thought it would have been an uphill battle and they just wouldn’t have been able to come through.
“So listen, like I said, 2-0 back at Anfield, the crowd under the lights, it’s still very doable.
“You can still get that performance out of Liverpool.
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
The Reds host Fulham at home this Saturday before welcoming Luis Enrique’s side to Anfield next Tuesday, where the Kop, renowned for swinging matches in Liverpool’s favour as noted by a Leeds United defender, will be primed to roar them on.
In the round of 16, Slot’s men produced a commanding 4-0 home win over Galatasaray in the second leg after trailing from the first.
Whether they can conjure another dazzling display remains to be seen, this time against the French heavyweights aiming for back-to-back Champions Leagues.
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