The first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals will feature another highly anticipated match, with Liverpool traveling to the Parc des Princes to challenge defending champions Paris Saint-Germain. Manager Sloot stated in a press conference that he hopes the "Reds" can bounce back strongly from their setbacks.

In the earlier FA Cup quarter-final match, Liverpool conceded goals in both halves and ultimately lost 0-4 to Manchester City, losing another chance to compete for the title this season.

As for defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, Enrique's team defeated Toulouse 3-1 in the earlier Ligue 1 match, securing a victory before facing Liverpool.

Liverpool manager Sloot said, "Sometimes in a game you want to play your own way, but for various reasons you can't, and one key reason is conceding a goal when you feel you're playing well and still in the rhythm of the game. Usually in football, the most demoralizing moments of conceding a goal often happen before halftime and at the start of the second half. Although we were able to compete head-to-head with Manchester City for most of the game, we were 0-2 down at halftime."

“We conceded our third goal at the start of the second half, but Salah had two excellent chances, though the players struggled. The good thing is that when it was 0-4, Manchester City seemed satisfied with the score and started to control possession and maintain possession, but it became difficult to create any truly threatening chances.”

Sloot pointed out, "But I didn't see the players give up during that period. However, I think it's good that the captain made a strong and clear response after the game. Hopefully, this response will not only stay after the game, but will allow us as a team to show the same strong response tomorrow."

I have a lot of experience in dealing with setbacks

"We've become quite experienced in dealing with negative emotions this season because we've experienced so many setbacks. This was a major setback because it was a quarter-final and we were thrashed by a large margin against our arch-rivals. But for me, it feels just as bad when we're 3-2 up against Leeds United and get pegged back in stoppage time, or when we're 2-1 up against Fulham and concede a goal in stoppage time."

When asked if a victory over Paris Saint-Germain would be a greater boost, Sloth said, "I don't think that far ahead, especially when the opponent is Paris Saint-Germain. As I said, they fully deserve the title of European champions, and they have basically maintained their squad throughout the season. The laws of football prove that the longer a team plays together, the higher their overall level usually becomes, and they were already impressive last season, and they may be even better this season."

"Many times, details determine success or failure, such as who performs better in a penalty shootout. Paris Saint-Germain eliminated us last season precisely because of this, and eventually went all the way to the final and won the championship. Whether it's the World Cup or the Champions League, a team often needs to win a penalty shootout to win the title. Although I'm willing to believe that there's no element of luck in penalty shootouts, because we can train, prepare, and do a lot of targeted things, sometimes it might also be related to the goalkeeper, like Donnarumma's excellent performance at the time."

Furthermore, Sloot added, "The priority now is tomorrow's game, then we will host Fulham, followed by the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. For those who don't know yet, we also have an important away game after that against Everton."

Image source: Internet