Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has experienced the Anfield atmosphere previously and is confident PSG can overcome Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia admits Paris Saint-Germain are in for a “tough” evening at Anfield tomorrow but has backed his team-mates to stand strong and overcome Liverpool in their Champions League last-16 second leg. The Reds are 1-0 up after Harvey Elliott snatched a late winner in the first leg in Paris last week.
Liverpool’s victory came in unlikely circumstances after PSG dominated the game, having 27 shots and seeing nine saved by an inspired Alisson Becker in the Reds goal before Elliott’s late strike.
It means the French side have it all to do at a stadium which is famed throughout Europe for its atmosphere in the competition and Kvaratskhelia, who has played at Anfield with his previous club Napoli, knows it’s a huge challenge to overcome.
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But the Georgian winger says PSG know what they are going to face when they walk out at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
He said: “I am not the only one who has played here most of them knows what it means. It will be a great atmosphere but I know also our fans are here and they will support. They will be for us from Paris.
“Most important is concentrating on football and we try to do our best. Our goal is to win tomorrow.
“I think tomorrow, Liverpool will be more confident, they are at home with amazing fans, so it will be tougher than Paris.
“They are winning 1-0 and it will be a different game, but we try to play our game, so let’s see tomorrow who will be in the next round and who will win this battle.”
He added: “We are motivated and we prepare ourselves but when you play against Liverpool at Anfield you don’t need the motivation. When you play for PSG you have motivation and it is the same in Champions League.
“We have a big mentality in the team, so we try to win tomorrow. This is our mentality.”
Reports in France claimed that the PSG players weren’t impressed by Liverpool in the first leg and that they were confident of turning the tie on its head with victory on Merseyside.
And Kvaratskhelia lifted the lid on his team-mates’ mentality ahead of the game.
He said: “We were a bit disappointed because football that day from us – when you play like that and we didn’t win – it was very unfair. We were disappointed.
“The next day we smile, work harder to play the same and tomorrow if we play the same quality, we can win the game and show everyone we can win against every team.
“It will be tough but our goal is to dominate like we did in Paris and to play the quality of the game we did there, we will try it. To dominate against Liverpool, not easy and we know it is more difficult here.
“But we try to give everything and everything is possible. Let’s play our game and see what finishes.
“I want to say the chances are 50/50 because to dominate vs Liverpool is not easy, we played well, showed great football we just have to concentrate and be confident to show we are here just to win.”