PSG vs Liverpool: the Champions League’s novelty heavyweight knockout game

In recent years, we’ve seen Real Madrid and Manchester City go head to head in the Champions League on a number of occasions, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich have also had their fair share of battles of late. The round-of-16 meeting between PSG and Liverpool, on the other hand, feels like an unusually fresh matchup.

One of the reasons Madrid and Barça remain keen on a European Super League is to ensure the best teams face each other more often. In theory, that would capture the imagination of more fans, and generate more money. Naysayers, however, feel the fact the biggest names aren’t guaranteed to meet multiple times a year makes it more special when they do.

Have PSG and Liverpool ever played before?

Considering Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool are two of Europe’s top clubs, and have been for a (varying) number of years, it is relatively bizarre they have only ever met four times, just twice in the Champions League, and never in the knockout stages.

PSG, of course, are relatively new to the elite scene. Founded as recently as 1970, making them the same age as current coach Luis Enrique, they had only ever played in the European Cup/Champions League five times before Qatari-government operated Qatar Sports Investments ploughed money into the club in 2011. Since then, they have featured in the tournament 13 seasons in a row.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are one of Europe’s most decorated clubs, winning the European Cup/Champions League six times. However, they failed to qualify for the competition in six of seven seasons between 2010 and 2017, and again in 2023/24, which explains in part why they have rarely crossed paths with PSG.

PSG vs Liverpool: previous meetings and head-to-head record

The only time the teams have previously met in the Champions League was in the group stage in 2018/19.

An injury-time goal from Roberto Firmino gave Liverpool a 3-2 win at Anfield on matchday 1, but Thomas Tuchel’s PSG, led by Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, narrowly triumphed 2-1 in the return leg at the Parc des Princes.

The French side went through as group winners, with The Reds only progressing to the round of 16 by virtue of having scored more goals than third-placed Napoli. But it was Jürgen Klopp who would lift the trophy at the end of the season, the German securing Liverpool’s sixth and most recent victory in the competition.

Prior to that, we have to go all the way back to April 1997 and the semifinals of the defunct Cup Winners’ Cup for the other two meetings. PSG handsomely won the first leg 3-0 in the French capital but only just sneaked through to the final after losing 2-0 in the return leg in England.

Unlike Liverpool more than 20 years later, though, winning the tie didn’t lead to silverware, as they lost to Barcelona in the final, Ronaldo scoring the only goal from the penalty spot.

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