Favourites tag means nothing, says Enrique ahead of Liverpool clash

Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique has played down suggestions his side are favourites ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to out-of-form Liverpool.

The English champions, fifth in the Premier League, have suffered 15 defeats across all competitions this season - their most in a single campaign since losing 18 matches in 2014-15.

PSG, meanwhile, lead Ligue 1 and are well placed to defend their Champions League crown. “It’s difficult to talk about Liverpool,” Luis Enrique told reporters on Tuesday. “Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaks very well about them.

“My view is that it’s both the same team and a different team. Everyone is trying to work out who the favourites are, but in this sort of match that means nothing. It will be tough for both teams.

“Showing that we’re still in the running every year and playing against Liverpool is always a positive thing. We want to reach the semi-finals; we know how difficult it will be, but we’re very motivated.”

The tie is a repeat of last season’s round-of-16 meeting, when PSG knocked Liverpool out on penalties.

“Last year, everyone said it was Liverpool, and PSG went through,” Spaniard Luis Enrique said.

This time, it will also see Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike come up against his former club.

The 23-year-old France international has enjoyed an impressive first season in England, scoring 17 goals and providing six assists in 43 appearances.

Ekitike spent a brief spell at PSG between 2023 and 2024 but found minutes hard to come by in a squad featuring Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

“After leaving here, he did very well in Germany and at Liverpool,” Luis Enrique added. “He’s now an international player and has made great progress. He was very young when he was here; he’s improved a lot.”

Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz did not train with the squad on Monday due to injury, but French winger Bradley Barcola did following an ankle problem.

PSG star Vitinha insisted his side remain very wary of the threat posed by Champions League quarter-final opponents Liverpool despite the Anfield club coming into the heavyweight tie in poor form.

“Liverpool are Liverpool, even if they are not in ideal form. They are still a great team,” Vitinha told reporters on Tuesday, the eve of the first leg between the sides at the Parc des Princes.

“It will be a great match here, and at Anfield, and tomorrow we will need to be at 100 percent. It will still be a very, very difficult game,” he added.

Griezmann target fairytale Atletico farewell: Antoine Griezmann’s Barcelona story ended in the depths of misery but as he returns to Camp Nou in the Champions League quarter-finals, the French forward is desperate to close out his time with Atletico Madrid on the greatest of highs.

Diego Simeone’s side, defeated in the 2014 and 2016 finals, have never lifted the trophy and veteran forward Griezmann, who will move to MLS side Orlando City at the end of the season, has not won a trophy with Atletico since the 2018 Europa League and subsequent UEFA Super Cup.

Griezmann switched Atletico for Barca in 2019, lasting just two years in the Catalan capital before returning to Simeone’s side on loan, and making the return permanent in 2022.

During that short stint in Barca colours Griezmann missed out on Atletico’s La Liga title win in 2021, a trophy that has eluded him through his career.

At Barca he was on the receiving end of the brutal 8-2 thrashing by Bayern in the 2020 Champions League quarter-finals, and failed to fit into the team alongside Lionel Messi.

Griezmann wants to leave Atletico, where he is the all-time top scorer with 211 goals, with major silverware in his hands at last, to add to the 2018 World Cup he won with France.

The first step towards that, since announcing the decision to depart last week, is at Camp Nou on Wednesday in the fifth meeting between Atletico and Barca this season.

Orlando wanted him to join by the end of March, but Griezmann said he would stay at Atletico, in no small part for a final shot at biggest trophy in the club game, as well as the Copa del Rey final.

The 35-year-old, one of Simeone’s very greatest soldiers during the coach’s 14-year reign, combined the work ethic the Argentine demanded with immense skill and quality.

“Griezmann is a maverick, it’s unbelievable how he plays football,” enthused Barca coach Hansi Flick last week. “It seems so light, it’s like he’s dancing.”

Agencies