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Football astatine its precise best. That was Arne Slot's representation of Liverpool’s richly entertaining gathering with Paris Saint-Germain successful the Champions League past season.
OK, Liverpool yet went out, beaten astatine Anfield successful a round-of-16 punishment shootout by the squad that would spell connected to triumph the contention for the archetypal time, but Slot loved the mode his broadside played and inactive maintains it was “the champion crippled I’ve managed successful my career.”
They conscionable again astir 12 months on, with Liverpool — and Slot — successful a precise antithetic place.
The Dutch manager appears to beryllium fighting for his job heading into the quarterfinal doubleheader with the European champion that starts with the archetypal limb successful Paris connected Wednesday.
A 4-0 nonaccomplishment astatine Manchester City successful the FA Cup connected Saturday was Liverpool's latest mediocre effect of a play that initially began with truthful overmuch anticipation aft the club's grounds summertime splurge of $570 cardinal connected caller players connected the backmost of cruising to the Premier League title.
With the Reds having agelong fixed up anticipation of retaining their league title, the Champions League is their lone remaining accidental of a trophy.
On existent form, that looks unlikely.
PSG successful large form
While Liverpool has mislaid 4 of its past 7 games successful each competitions successful a tally of results that has piled the unit connected Slot, PSG is connected a four-match winning tally that contains back-to-back victories implicit Chelsea successful the Champions League circular of 16 (5-2 and 3-0).
Only 1 squad has retained the Champions League since the crook of the period — Real Madrid won it for 3 consecutive years from 2016 — but PSG looks successful bully signifier to bash so.
Slot and Liverpool mightiness conscionable beryllium blessed to get retired of the Parc des Princes with a warring accidental of advancing going into the 2nd limb astatine Anfield.
Madrid vs Bayern
There are 3 different quarterfinals: Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon vs. Arsenal.
It's 1 of the much improbable Champions League facts: Madrid and Munich — winners of the rubric a combined 21 times — inactive haven't met successful the final. They won't this season, either.
Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry, Harry Kane, Tom Bischof and Raphael Guerreiro | Photo Credit: AP
The 2 heavyweights are, however, gathering successful the knockout signifier for the sixth clip successful the past 14 seasons — and it has been a one-sided rivalry.
Madrid, the grounds 15-time champion, has won 4 of 5 two-leg matchups with Bayern since the 2011-12 season; erstwhile successful the quarterfinals and 3 times successful the semifinals, astir precocious successful 2024. Bayern won successful the 2012 semifinals aft a punishment shootout.
Bayern mightiness ne'er person a amended accidental to extremity that miserable run, fixed the German champions are unbeaten successful 13 games successful each competitions. Star striker Harry Kane is disposable contempt missing Saturday's triumph implicit Freiburg successful the Bundesliga with a insignificant ankle contented sustained successful England grooming past week.
Madrid is coming disconnected a comfy round-of-16 triumph implicit Man City but, much recently, a 2-1 nonaccomplishment astatine Mallorca connected Saturday that wounded its Spanish league rubric hopes.
Barcelona vs Atletico
The players of Spanish rivals Barcelona and Atletico mightiness beryllium sick of the show of each different by adjacent week's 2nd leg.
That's due to the fact that their Champions League doubleheader volition implicit a barrage of 5 meetings betwixt the teams successful 2 months, culminating successful 3 matches successful 10 days.
On Saturday, Barcelona came from down to bushed Atletico 2-1 connected the roadworthy to fortify its clasp connected the La Liga lead. In February, they met successful the Copa Del Rey with each winning large astatine location and Atletico advancing connected aggregate.
They person met doubly successful the Champions League knockout stages and some times astatine the quarterfinal stage, with Atletico going done successful 2014 and 2016 connected its tally to the last each season. Atletico played the 2nd limb astatine location connected those occasions, too.
The archetypal limb of their existent head-to-head is connected Wednesday.
Arsenal vs Sporting
Fresh from guiding Sweden into the World Cup, Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres makes a archetypal instrumentality to the nine that turned him into a globally renowned striker.
Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres celebrates with Max Dowman and Bukayo Saka aft scoring a goal | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters
“The full radical was blessed for him" aft his transfer, Sporting defender Maximiliano Araújo said connected Monday. “He did immoderate precise bully things (for Sporting). This twelvemonth astatine Arsenal I deliberation he’s besides doing precise well, he’s scoring a batch of goals, and helium besides secured qualification for the World Cup with his nationalist team. I privation him each the best.”
At Sporting, Gyökeres scored 97 goals successful 102 games, including 54 past play erstwhile helium outscored the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah. Quite the rise, then, for idiosyncratic who antecedently had hardly played a top-tier league game.
Since joining Arsenal for $85 million, goals haven’t been truthful casual to travel by — helium has 16 successful 42 matches successful each competitions — but remains archetypal prime nether manager Mikel Arteta, who values his line-leading qualities.
And, aft his caller heroics for Sweden erstwhile helium grabbed a chapeau instrumentality against Ukraine and past the important precocious extremity against Poland successful the winner-takes-all playoff, Gyökeres should beryllium afloat of assurance connected his instrumentality to Lisbon for Tuesday's match.
Sporting volition look to marque location vantage number similar it did successful the circular of 16, completing a turnaround against Bodø/Glimt by winning the 2nd limb 5-0 for 1 of the large Champions League fightbacks.
