Enrique on Liverpool Challenge: “We Know How Difficult Anfield Is”

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique addresses the media ahead of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool. | AFP via Getty Images

Liverpool will be hoping for another famous European night and Anfield and to stage a comeback against Paris Saint-Germain this evening when the two sides meet in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with the Parisians carrying a 2-0 advantage from last week’s match at the Parc des Princes.

If they are to manage it, though, they will have to overcome not just arguably Europe’s top side over the past 12 months but also one led by a manager who is taking the threat of the home crowd seriously. That’s because Luis Enrique not only played at Anfield twice as a Barcelona player but also visited and sat on the Kop after hanging up his boots.

“I don’t remember the exact match but it was nice,” he said of his visit as a fan in the 2000s. “I wanted to live as a supporter in one of the best stadiums in the world, at Anfield, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a different experience. I got the tickets as Luis Garcia was playing here, so it was special—very different to what I lived as a player.”

Liverpool have overcome deficits before, but even having won against Fulham on the weekend the game comes at a point in time when the mood around the club is at its lowest in years thanks to a season where both results and performances fall well short of expectation for the defending Premier League champions.

Add in arguably the toughest possible opponent—an opponent who got the weekend off when Ligue 1 re-arranged fixtures to give PSG rest ahead of their European clash—and a manager who won’t be inclined to under-value the potential power of Anfield to turn the tide and help tip the match in the home side’s favour, though, and it will be difficult.

“Everyone says we won the first leg easily and were better than the opposition,” Enrique added. “It might be the case but things can change so quickly in a football match. You need to be careful, to take care of the details—you need to be ready because you can concede a goal in the first half and then the game is still open.

“So we’ll go out to try and win the game like we always do. They will come out and try to score and so I need to ensure my team know we will encounter difficulties, that it won’t be easy. We know how difficult it is to play in a stadium like Anfield but it’s also a source of motivation and we want to play our game, to overcome them, and win the game.”