Arne Slot insisted that his Liverpool team would like to win instead of defending their 1-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last 16 draw on Tuesday.
The 87th minute strike by Harvey Elliott took a victory for the Reds in the Parc des Princes in the first leg, which was dominated by PSG most of the game.
Liverpool indeed won the match despite the fact that he had 25 shots than PSG, the joint-largest negative difference in shots by a winning team on Record (from 2003-04) in a Champions League knockout stage competition (PSG v Bayern Munich in April 2021 also 25).
And after losing their first European meeting with the Parisiens in April 1997 (0-3 in the Cup Winners' Cup Semi-final first stage), Liverpool has since lost only one of the four against them and wins three of them.
And Slot said that this time his players were for a new victory on the French side to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time since 2021-22.
“We try to win every game,” Slot told reporters on Monday. “We want a different game (then last week) and our intentions are the same. We don't want a draw. We want the ball as much as possible.”
Slot also confirmed that Cody Gakpo would be available again, after he had missed three of the last five Premier League matches from Liverpool because of an ankle injury.
Gakpo has impressed this period of the Champions League, where only Talisman Mohamed Salah (seven) registered more targets than the Dutchman (four).
After their meeting with the side of Luis Enrique, Liverpool takes on Newcastle United for the first piece of silverware in the English football in the EFL Cup final on Sunday.
The Reds also extended their lead on the Premier League summit to 15 points from a goal to beat Bottom Club Southampton, with a second placed Arsenal on Sunday a 1-1 draw in Manchester United.
Slot, however, laughed that he dreamed of lifting silverware in his debut season on MerseSide this week.
“No, you don't dream, you have to work very hard to prepare the team in the best way,” he said. “I try to do this every game.
“If you have a game like last week (at PSG), ask yourself if you can even sleep.
“I am not dreaming this week. We are focused and the week started on Saturday, and now we are looking forward to tomorrow. Everyone is looking forward to a game like this.”
“The result (in the first stage) was ours, but the implementation was for them. We are 1-0 up and it gives us confidence; the implementation (gives PSG confidence).
“This is the most complete team that we have confronted so far. They have so much quality with a great coach (Luis Enrique). He lets them play in a way that is not easy to play against; (their) working speed is incredible.”
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