"A challenge that we will look forward to" - Arne Slot reacts as Liverpool set to face PSG in UEFA Champions League Round of 16

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has reacted to drawing Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The draw to determine the opponents for the knockout stage took place on February 21, pitting the Reds against the Parisians over two legs.

Liverpool had a great run in the league phase of the Champions League and finished as table leaders. The Reds acquired 21 points off eight games, having lost only one match - 3-2 against PSV Eindhoven. Meanwhile, PSG finished 15th in the table with 13 points off eight games. They faced Brest in the playoffs and won on a whopping 10-0 aggregate to qualify for the Round of 16.

In an interview with the media (h/t The Standard), the Reds boss Arne Slot shared his thoughts on facing Luis Enrique's Paris Saint-Germain and said:

"At this stage of the competition, the quality of opponent is only going to be of a very high standard, and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with real European pedigree. They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in style earlier this week with a big win against Brest and they had some really good results in the league phase, defeating Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona and Salzburg."

Slot explained that the Reds will look forward to the challenge and added:

"As is the case with ourselves, PSG are top of their domestic league and are enjoying a long unbeaten run. This tells us all that we need to know about the challenge that we will face but it is also a challenge that we will look forward to, knowing that we also fully deserve to be in the last 16."

The winners of the clash between Liverpool and PSG will face the winners of the clash between Club Brugge and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals.

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Liverpool vs. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) head-to-head statistics explored

UCL group stage 2018-19 season - Source: Getty

Liverpool and PSG have faced each other four times in the past. Two games were in the UEFA Champions League while the other two were in the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, which was held until 1999.

Both teams have won twice against each other. The French giants scored seven goals across four meetings against the Reds, while Liverpool scored six times against them.

Their most recent clash came in the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League group stage. The Merseysiders beat the French outfit 3-2 in the first leg, although the Parisians won 2-1 in the second leg. Liverpool notably went on to win the title in that season, which also marked the last time they won the tournament.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain have yet to win the UEFA Champions League. The closest they came to winning the competition was in the 2019-20 season where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final. Kingsley Coman scored the lone goal in the game for the Bavarian side.