PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain have refused to accept the idea that they are strong favourites for their Champions League quarterfinal with Liverpool, amid the Premier League side’s domestic slump.
Out of the Premier League title race. Routed in the FA Cup. Mounting questions over the manager’s future. A star forward set to leave. A disgruntled captain saying his team gave up. Liverpool head into the first leg the quarterfinal on Wednesday in disarray. A far cry from when the sides met in the round of 16 last year.
Back then, Liverpool were romping to the Premier League title, new manager Arne Slot was the toast of the city and Mohamed Salah was at his brilliant best. By contrast PSG had struggled to get out of the Champions League group stage and observers were questioning coach Luis Enrique’s methods.
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PSG scraped through on penalties against Liverpool after an intense battle over two legs and went on to win the Champions League for the first time with a rout of Inter Milan in the final.
But PSG are blocking out any talk about being the favorite this time.
“Favorite according to you [the media],” PSG midfielder Vitinha told a news conference on Tuesday ahead of the first leg at the Parc des Princes. “The same way you said last year that Liverpool was.
“Even if Liverpool are not in their best form they remain a great team with great players.”
PSG are closing in on another French title but Liverpool are fifth in the Premier League, a hefty 21 points behind leaders Arsenal. Following a crushing 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, captain Virgil van Dijk said his side “gave up” and he apologized to fans.
“With this team, it’s impossible to have a favourite,” insisted PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “I don’t believe it.
“Who are the favourites? If you remember last year, everyone said it was Liverpool, and the team that qualified [for the next round] was Paris Saint-Germain. For me, there is no favourite.”
PSG will be without Bradley Barcola and Fabián Ruiz for the first leg at the Parc des Princes, where Harvey Elliott, now on loan at Aston Villa, fired Liverpool to a barely believable 1-0 win last term.
“Arne Slot has spoken about what an incredible match it was,” said Vitinha, who finished third in the Ballon d’Or standings in 2025 “They didn’t have a chance [in the first leg] apart from the goal they scored and [goalkeeper] Allison was man of the match.”
PSG are well aware of the threat posed by Liverpool’s top scorer this season, with forward Hugo Ekitike set to return to face his old side as a player transformed.
He joined PSG four years ago as a promising 19-year-old but struggled to make an impact in a team containing Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi. He scored only four goals in 33 games in two disappointing seasons.
“You could already see the qualities he had,” Vitinha said in his defense. “It just wasn’t the right context for him at the time.”
A move to Eintracht Frankfurt changed Ekitiké’s fortunes and, after scoring 22 goals last season, he earned a big move to Premier League champion Liverpool for £69 million (then $93.5 million).
He has done well with 17 goals and has broken into the France team, and national coach Didier Deschamps appreciates his ability to attack from deep and dribble at speed.
“Normally I don’t talk about players who don’t play for PSG,” Luis Enrique said when asked about Ekitiké. “But after leaving PSG he did well in Germany and England. He was very young when he was here and he has improved a lot.”
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
