Luis Enrique fondly recalls Arne Slot's early praise for PSG as the coaches prepare for their Champions League quarterfinal.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, on the eve of Nice vs. PSG, Luis Enrique was inevitably asked about the upcoming Champions League quarterfinal clash against Liverpool and took the opportunity to pay tribute to his Dutch counterpart Arne Slot.
Arne Slot is a great admirer of Luis Enrique's PSG and made it known as early as Jan. 20, 2025, when Liverpool was then first in the Champions League league phase and had not yet been drawn against PSG in the round of 16. The Dutch coach of Liverpool explained that the league phase standings did not reflect the teams' levels.
"If I watch PSG every week, phew. It's the most difficult team to face," Slot said at a press conference when PSG had not yet beaten Manchester City and Stuttgart and was 26th in the standings. "Yet they are very low in the standings, but that does not reflect their quality. And maybe by finishing first in the standings, you can face them in the next round, which would be a disadvantage. Being first in these standings does not necessarily mean you are the best team, and being 24th does not mean you are 24th in terms of quality."
The Dutchman had been proven right and was eliminated by PSG on March 11 in the round of 16, before seeing Luis Enrique's team win the competition two months later in Munich, crushing Inter Milan in the final. A year later, PSG and Liverpool will meet again in the Champions League, this time in the quarterfinals, and the Spanish coach of PSG has not forgotten that his Dutch counterpart was one of the few to believe in his team just over a year ago.
"It's a good memory. It's going to be a very different match," Luis Enrique said Friday about PSG-Liverpool. "I remember last year, when Liverpool was (considered) the best team in Europe at that point in the competition (before the round of 16 against PSG). They had shown an incredible level. And I remember that their coach, Arne Slot, spoke very well of Paris Saint-Germain, when no one spoke well of us, and that was very positive for us. It's a good memory. We're looking forward to playing this quarterfinal, first at Parc des Princes and in Paris, and then in Liverpool. It will be a classic, if I may say so."
Arne Slot admires PSG so much that he decided to emulate the Parisian team's kickoff routine, as several Liverpool supporters noticed this week during the 4-0 win against Galatasaray.
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