It’s the type of game that justifies the Champions League’s enduring reputation as football’s primary attraction.
Liverpool – five time winners of Europe’s premier competition and last year’s finalists – coming up against a Paris Saint-Germain side who boast one of the most complete squads on the planet.
The Reds’ attempts to snare a sixth European title begins with an almighty bang when Jurgen Klopp welcomes the Parisien aristocrats to what is hoped to be a white-hot Anfield atmosphere on Tuesday night.
Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah.
Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani, Neymar.
Liverpool’s Sadio Mane celebrates with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino after scoring their third goal against FC Porto in the Champions League
(Image: FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty Images)
It a mouth-watering prospect.
The Reds’ much-vaunted front three were instrumental in helping the club re-establish itself as European royalty last term.
Between them, they blasted in 91 goals in all competitions as Klopp’s side plundered a record 47 on the continent before eventually falling at the final hurdle in Kiev to Real Madrid back in May.
With 10 goals apiece, Mane, Salah and Firmino rattled in 30 of those 47 as they built a frontline to strike fear into defences across the continent.
However, PSG arrive from the French capital on Tuesday evening with a rare ability to boast a comparable attack in Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani.
PSG’s front three Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe celebrate
(Image: PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)
Electric pace, breath-taking skill and raw power – PSG’s front three have it in abundance and will take some stopping in full flight. The Qatari-backed French club can also call on Julian Draxler and Angel Di Maria too for good measure.
It will be a night for Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to relish. Games like these are the reason they traded in Southampton and Charlton when they made their respective moves to Anfield.
Muscular marksman Cavani leads the line for Thomas Tuchel’s men, ably abetted by the searing speed and almost unrivalled trickery of Mbappe and Neymar on the flanks. Between them, they helped themselves to a whopping 80 goals in all competitions last time around.
Neymar looks on during the French Ligue 1 football match between Paris Saint-German and Dijon
(Image: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)
Such a return was enough to see Les Parisiens stroll to the Ligue 1 title by 13 points but the Champions League is proving a tougher nut to crack.
Since Qatari Sports Investment began their eye-wateringly expensive French revolution back in 2011, they have yet to go past the quarter-final stage.
An outlandish £884m has been spent attracting some of the planet’s best, which included a world-record £200m outlay for Neymar in the summer of 2017.
It was a transfer that seemed to warp the market and was seen – by some, at least – as the catalyst for the increasingly exorbitant expenditure that has now arguably reached grotesquely excessive levels in the modern game.
Thomas Tuchel took charge of PSG this summer
(Image: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images for ICC)
Whatever your stance on such developments though, there can be no denying the allure of the Champions League when this type of glamorous fixture is scheduled.
PSG’s reputation as the free-wheeling big spenders of Europe will count for little when arrive at Anfield on Tuesday night, however.
They will enter a cauldron that simply relishes such big occasions.
Liverpool fans wave flags prior to the UEFA Champions League Semi Final First Leg match between Liverpool and A.S. Roma
(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
An atmosphere that is usually reserved for the knockout stages is likely to be built when the early evening descends on L4 on Tuesday.
It promises to be a blockbuster of a start to this season’s proceedings.
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