Few arenas in world football can truly change the course of a match, yet among that rare group, one stands apart.
It has become almost cliche to talk of special European nights at Anfield, yet it remains the case that Liverpool is one of those grounds where the atmosphere is not a byproduct of the game, but its driving force. And if Liverpool are to overhaul a two-goal deficit against Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow night, then the crowd will have played a significant role.
“Anfield is going to make a big impact tomorrow,” said Dominik Szoboszlai in his pre-match press conference yesterday. “We saw it many times during this season, last season and in the past. It is going to be not only about 11 players or the subs who come in — it is going to be the whole stadium, and we know how it feels to be playing for Liverpool in front of these fans. We don’t need any more motivation.”
As is often the case, the legend of Liverpool’s Anfield fortress is not quite matched by the reality. Before trouncing Galatasaray 4-0 in the last 16 last month, Liverpool had won just once in their last seven Champions League knockout games played on Merseyside (Villarreal in the 2022 semi-finals). Atletico Madrid (2020), Real Madrid (2021 and 2023), Inter Milan and Benfica (both 2022), and PSG (2025) had all found ways to defuse the powderkeg atmosphere, although not all those defeats proved consequential.
Yet the ease with which Galatasaray were swatted aside underlined how Anfield remains an imposing presence on these occasions, its mystique established by heady evenings against Inter (1965), St Etienne (1977), Olympiacos and Chelsea (2004-05), Borussia Dortmund (2016) and, most incredible of the lot, Barcelona (2019).
PSG may be the reigning European champions, comfortably placed after winning the first leg, but it would be foolish to discount Liverpool, despite their struggles this season.
“We thought we had a tough game away at Galatasaray where their fans were really loud but back at Anfield, we showed what being loud is really about,” head coach Arne Slot observed to reporters earlier this month.
But where does the belief come from to generate another one of those special nights?
The difference under Klopp, as one example, was the ability to thrive as underdogs, or as supporters put it “to go to war for him” even when hope appeared to be lost. Before that Barcelona tie — when Liverpool overturned a three-goal deficit to win the semi-final 4-3 en route to winning the Champions League — the team were on a 19-game unbeaten run going into the first leg.
Klopp’s comments to reporters that Barca “still have to come to Anfield” carried more weight than similar words from Slot ahead of PSG’s return this season. Liverpool have lost 16 games in all competitions, including three of the last four, and while victory over Fulham on Saturday offered respite, tensions are still simmering.
Last weekend there was another issue to add to mix — protests inside and outside the stadium over increased ticket prices set by owners Fenway Sports Group. Tonight, there will again be no banners on The Kop, other than those dedicated to the victims of Hillsborough.
It has all added to the sense of what Dan Clubbe, who runs fan site Redmen TV, calls “a growing disconnect among the fanbase”.
“Seven years ago, when Klopp said there was still a chance, we all believed it, but where we are now is night and day in terms of the feeling,” he adds. “I will still believe when it’s closer to kick-off but the reasons to believe are few and far between now.”
These are unusual times for Liverpool, highlighted when The Athletic asked Virgil van Dijk after the rousing win over Galatasaray in last 16 whether he felt the connection with those in the stands had faded this season. Van Dijk replied that he “didn’t like the question” and insisted that “in all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never questioned that”.
Liverpool fans protest at ticket prices during the Fulham game (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Players fed off the energy in the stands that night, with Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Ibrahima Konate all celebrating small acts such as winning a throw-in or corner by raising their hands and encouraging more support from the stands. Slot, too, was markedly animated on the sidelines.
Since then, Liverpool’s position in every competition has worsened and unrest has increased. A large section of supporters left the Etihad early during the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup, while others sang Xabi Alonso’s name in an obvious indirect message towards their own faltering head coach.
Players’ actions — on and off the field — have been scrutinised. “In this city, we value hard work and togetherness, and they’re not showing any of that,” said John Gibbons, a contributor to the influential fan channel, The Anfield Wrap. “There’s no humility on the pitch whatsoever. It’s at a real point where it could just go and once you lose people and the city it’s really hard to get it back.” That clip clearly hit a nerve, attracting 1.1million views on X.
Anfield all together for a massive night then? That, of course, will be the plan.
“Their (PSG) players experienced Anfield last year, so they think that they know what is coming, so I can only hope our fans can find an extra gear,” Slot told reporters yesterday. “I don’t know if that’s even possible because the atmosphere last season against PSG here was unbelievable. But I think our fans will be up for making it even louder, which is needed.”
For the fans whose faith is being challenged, there is the folklorish memory of previous unlikely triumphs to sustain them. For Clubbe, the experience of seeing Liverpool turn a 4-2 aggregate deficit into a 5-4 win in the space of half an hour against Dortmund in the 2016 Europa League quarter-finals was a formative experience.
“That was the night I started believing and recalling everything my grandad had told me about the power of Anfield and what it can do. He witnessed the win over St Etienne where Liverpool left it late to turn around the game, and how the crowd helped.
“But of course, the main act is Barcelona. To be 3-0 down, with all the players missing against that Barca side, and then turn it around… I suppose there’s just a different feeling about everything at Anfield. You start to think, ‘Why not?’ and the opposition feel it, the players know it and the supporters believe it.”
In the Main Stand, pictures line the walls of Liverpool’s memorable European nights, but there’s space for more to be added. Paul, a scarf seller outside The Kop, said before the last Champions League game that the key to building an intense atmosphere is to “leave the negativity at the turnstiles”. The beauty of Anfield is cranking up the noise when it really matters and the startling effect that has on opposition players.
Reflecting on the day Steven Gerrard saved Liverpool with his goal against Olympiacos in 2004 to ensure qualification from the group stage, the goalkeeper he beat, Antonis Nikopolidis, told The Athletic: “I remember a packed stadium with people singing from the first to the last minute, an amazing atmosphere.”
Four months later, Robert Huth sat on the substitutes bench for the visitors when Liverpool beat Chelsea through Luis Garcia’s ‘ghost’ goal to progress to the Champions League final in Istanbul, a night often cited as the loudest Anfield has ever been.
“I remember getting to the ground, seeing there were thousands on the streets and when we got off the bus, we saw all the red flames,” Huth recalled. “Inside the stadium, you couldn’t hear your own voice.”
And who can forget Lionel Messi’s face when it all came crumbling down for Barcelona? Admittedly, it’s hard to see how PSG could be so porous, even if they have had some troubles on the road, drawing at Lille, Lorient and Athletic Club this season as well as losing at Monaco, Sporting and Rennes.
This time last year, they also found themselves 5-1 up on aggregate against Aston Villa after 27 minutes, only for it to finish 5-4 with Villa left wondering how they missed a stack of other chances.
So can Liverpool rattle the European champions in a similar way in their own back yard?
“The power of Anfield can help so we’ve got to have belief,” adds Clubbe. “To experience and celebrate a night like some of the previous ones would be on another level. Just talking about it gives me a feeling that we can do it, but it’s going to be tough.”