Liverpool are hoping for a big Anfield night on Tuesday as they welcome Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League.
The Reds are in a good position heading into the second-leg of the last-16 tie having taken a smash and grab win home from Paris last week.
However, with PSG clearly in a good moment, Liverpool will likely need to call on the power of the Anfield crowd to make the difference.
PSG have been confident going into the game, with a number of the French club’s players appearing virtually certain of their progression to the quarter-finals.
As plenty of illustrious stars will tell you, though, Anfield is different. PSG should be careful not to fall into same trap Barcelona did when coming to the stadium in 2019.
One man who appears to be fully aware of the power of Liverpool’s home stadium is Roma’s Paulo Dybala. Ahead of his own club’s European last-16 tie next week, Dybala has shown a surprise appreciation of Anfield.
Photo credit should read Fabio Sasso / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Photo credit should read Fabio Sasso / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Paulo Dybala compares Anfield and Stadio Olimpico
Dybala was linked with Liverpool as he prepared to leave Juventus on a free transfer in the summer of 2022.
The Argentine would have been an interesting addition for Jurgen Klopp. His brand of instinctive, fun attacking play is the kind which gets crowds on their feet.
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However, Dybala instead ended up at Roma, where he has gone on to play 111 times, scoring 42 goals. On Thursday, Roma head to Bilbao to take on Athletic for the second-leg of a game which ended 2-1 to the Italian team earlier this week.
Home advantage paid for the Giallorossi, and sitting down for an interview with Marca before Thursday’s return in Spain, Dybala was asked about playing at the Stadio Olimpico on a weekly basis.
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“I would invite anyone who doesn’t know it to come,” he said, before giving an unlikely nod to Anfield. “What you experience here can only be seen at Anfield… and a few other stadiums.
“The Olympic Stadium is always full and just hearing the anthem at the beginning gives the stadium an incredible magic. There are few stadiums like it, so beautiful.”
Has Dybala ever played at Anfield?
Although Dybala speaks very highly of Anfield here, the truth is that the World Cup winner has never actually played at the stadium.
Dybala starred for Juventus for seven years from 2015, but despite Liverpool playing in the Champions League for five of those campaigns, the two clubs never met.
Roma were in the Europa League with Liverpool during the 2022/23 season, but having been drawn on opposite sides of the competition, the only way they could have played each other was in the final. That didn’t happen.
Given that Liverpool will be playing Champions League football once again 2025/26, and Roma are currently ninth in Serie A, it looks very unlikely that their paths will cross next year either.
As a result, unless he leaves Roma for Champions League football this summer, it looks like Dybala will have to rely on the stories of Anfield to form his picture of the stadium. One day, Paulo!