On the eve of another meeting that crackles with recent history, Vitinha cut through the noise with a simple reminder.
“Liverpool are Liverpool, even if they are not in ideal form. They are still a great team,” the Portuguese midfielder said on Tuesday, as Paris Saint-Germain prepared to welcome the English side back to the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their Champions League tie.
He knows exactly what is coming.
“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.”
A tie with a fresh scar
This is not just another last‑16 clash. It is a rerun of last season’s bruising contest, when Liverpool stole a 1-0 win in Paris, only for Luis Enrique’s team to return the favour at Anfield and then hold their nerve in the shoot-out.
PSG rode that surge of belief all the way to their first Champions League crown. Liverpool consoled themselves with the Premier League title. Both giants left the spring with silverware and a sense of unfinished business in Europe.
“It was an incredible tie,” Vitinha recalled. The memory still bites.
“There was a bit of frustration in the first match. I don’t remember Liverpool having a chance apart from the goal they scored at the end. We played well and yet we still lost. I remember saying that by playing like that we could go to Liverpool and win.
“Fortunately we did that, but that was last year. This is a different year, there have been changes in the two teams. Lots of things happen in football in a year, and it will be a different game for sure.”
Liverpool arrive wounded
The narrative around Arne Slot’s Liverpool could hardly be more different this time. They come into Wednesday’s showdown on the back of a 4-0 dismantling by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals, a defeat that ripped open doubts about their rhythm and resilience.
One win in five across all competitions has left them drifting in the Premier League, down in fifth place. Their grip on a Champions League spot for next season looks fragile.
Yet that is exactly why PSG refuse to relax. A cornered Liverpool has ruined European nights for opponents before. Vitinha’s warning carried that weight.
Ekitike’s return to Paris
There will be a new face in red under the Paris floodlights. Hugo Ekitike, once a frustrated young forward on the fringes at PSG, now returns as Liverpool’s leading scorer this season with 17 goals and a growing reputation that has pushed him into the conversation for France’s World Cup squad.
His time in Paris, between 2022 and 2024, never truly ignited. The talent was obvious; the context was not.
“Hugo is a fantastic guy. I enjoyed the year I spent with him. You could see the quality he had even if it wasn’t the right context for him. I wish him all the best except for these two matches,” Vitinha said, with a smile that recognised both the friendship and the threat.
Injury concerns for PSG
Luis Enrique’s preparations, though, are not without problems. PSG are set to go into the first leg without two important pieces of their structure.
Fabian Ruiz, the Spain midfielder whose composure and passing range anchor the side, remains sidelined with the knee injury that has kept him out since January.
“Fabian has not yet trained with the squad, so how can he play?” Luis Enrique said. “He has improved a lot and we are very happy. That shows he is on the right road but he still has some way to go.”
Bradley Barcola, one of the stars of PSG’s 8-2 aggregate demolition of Chelsea in the previous round, is also expected to miss out despite rejoining training. His pace and direct running have given this PSG a different edge on the break.
“We are trying to find the best conditions for the player and he needs to tell us when he is ready,” the coach explained, hinting that the risk of rushing him back outweighs the temptation.
No favourites in a familiar storm
On paper, the reigning European champions, at home, against a Liverpool side searching for form and confidence, would normally wear the favourites’ tag comfortably. Luis Enrique wants no part of that storyline.
“It is impossible to say one team is the favourite,” the former Barcelona coach insisted. “Last year everyone said Liverpool were the favourites, and the team that went through was Paris Saint-Germain.”
The message from Paris is clear. Form tables, injury lists, even last season’s glory – all of it can vanish in an instant when the Champions League anthem hits and Liverpool walk out under the lights.
PSG know what it took to survive them once. Now they must prove they can do it again, this time as champions with everything to lose.
