Szoboszlai 'ready to die' in Liverpool's quest to reach Champions League semi-finals

Dominik Szoboszlai said he is prepared to die for Liverpool when he takes to the field for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain. 

Liverpool welcome the defending champions to Anfield on Tuesday hoping to overturn a two-goal deficit after a toothless display in a 2-0 defeat in the French capital last week. 

Arne Slot's side failed to have a shot on target in a Champions League match for the first time since November 2020 against Atalanta, though there is still hope for the Reds. 

This will be the fifth time that Liverpool have hosted the reigning champions from the previous season's Champions League.

They lost each of the first three, twice to Real Madrid and once to Barcelona, but won the most recent and only one they have played under Slot (2-0 v Madrid in November 2024).

Before the 2025-26 quarter-finals, there have been 17 occasions of a team being eliminated from the Champions League knockout stages despite having a 2+ goal lead from the first leg, and it is PSG who have been on the receiving end of this more than any other side (three times). 

The Opta supercomputer has assigned Liverpool a 14% chance of progressing to the final four to PSG's 86% probability, but Szoboszlai intends to leave everything out on the pitch to try and make it as uncomfortable as possible for Luis Enrique's side. 

"We are going to go all in and give our best from minute one to 90, or more. I am ready to die on the pitch tomorrow," Szoboszlai told reporters. 

"I want it so bad, we have worked for it so hard. In one game, anything can happen at Anfield."

Szoboszlai did, however, acknowledge the enormity of the task ahead of him, adding: "Of course, it would be one of the biggest comebacks in my career. Especially for Liverpool.

"Against PSG in the quarter-final of the Champions League, after being 2-0 down. Yeah, it would be the biggest comeback of my career.

"The national team [my biggest comeback] was when we qualified for the Euros in 2019 against Iceland. We were down after 85 minutes and changed the game to 2-1."

That sentiment was also echoed by Slot, who alleviated some of the pressure off his shoulders following a 2-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.

However, the Reds' struggles have not just come domestically. In Europe, Liverpool have lost four games in the Champions League this season, their joint-most in a single campaign (also 2006-07 and 2018-19).

The last time they lost four was in 2018-19 under Jurgen Klopp – they went on to win the trophy that season, and it is also the only time they have overturned a 2+ goal deficit from the first leg to progress (v Barcelona in the semi-final).

In addition, Liverpool have scored 24 goals from an expected goals (xG) total of 27.8 in the Champions League this season, the biggest underperformance of the remaining sides (3.8), and Slot said his side must be "exceptional" to stand any chance of a turnaround. 

"We know we need an exceptional performance to go to the next round, but that's completely normal when you face the champions of Europe," Slot said. 

"We've been able to score more than two goals on occasions.

"But for now let's just focus on the job on hand, start aggressively and make sure we can get back in the tie, and that is by scoring goals.

"I know that they will try and score the first goal, we are going to try as well."