By Tim Stannard

Liverpool look to avoid PSG-problem in Champions League

At last, one PSG ambition has come true – to achieve legendary status in the Champions League. Hats in the air time.

However, this monumental landmark has not happened as the club’s owners would have had in mind. Instead, the name of the French club has been a constant in conversation over Manchester City’s chances of overturning a 3-0 deficit in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Liverpool.

In theory, the omens are bleak. Such a deficit has only been overturned twice in Champions League history. But one of those occasions was last year when Barcelona lost out 4-0 to PSG in a first-leg clash but prevailed with a remarkable 6-1 victory in the Camp Nou, a win that owed a lot to the genius of Neymar and a kindly referee.

On the positive side, Manchester City are more than capable of knocking three or more past Liverpool, despite the Anfield side’s much-improved defense. "My team is extraordinary, it is not comparable to others, it is top,” was Pep Guardiola’s praise on Monday.

But on the other foot, Liverpool will be odds-on to pick up at least one goal, even if Mo Salah does not win a fitness battle to be ready for the clash. The fine people of Canada can see this whopper live on beIN SPORTS with our Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson on the call from 2PM ET / 11AM PT.

Roma bracing for bad night against Barca

Roma are not on the receiving end of the PSG comparisons despite facing a similar uphill battle against Barcelona in the day’s second Champions League clash.

The Serie A side are 4-1 down from a first-leg clash in the Camp Nou and need to rack up quite the tally against Barca. The problem is that Spanish champions-elect are as stable as Stonehenge these days and barely concede at the back and have Leo Messi up front.

But Ernesto Valverde did his managerial duty by refusing to allow complacency into the equation. "The main error we could make is thinking we're in the semis already," noted the Barca boss against a Roma side that has lost four of its last six Serie A games at home, which is less of a fortress than a sandcastle facing a hurricane.

Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the best of the action of the day in the Champions League.

Florentino predicting Clasico Champions League crescendo

Press conference preparations are now underway for Wednesday’s Champions League games which have a sense of job-done-already.

Real Madrid are hosting Juventus in the Santiago Bernabeu holding a 3-0 advantage over the Serie A leaders from the first-leg. And that begged the question over how the same team could be favorites to win the Champion League for a third-year-in-a row and yet be fourth in La Liga, 15 points from Barcelona? "I don't have an explanation," admitted Coach Zizou, but sometimes, like this year, our consistency hasn't been very good.”

Meanwhile, club president Florentino Perez has been plotting a path to the final for Madrid in the Italian press, and it ends a Clasico final in Kiev with Bayern Munich as the semi-final opponents, “because we always play them.”

Make or break night for MLS v Mexico

Europe is not just hogging the Champions League highlight on Tuesday. Heck no, the New World also has a crucial night of football which could result in a historic moment for MLS.

The Concacaf Champions League semifinal second legs are taking place and the two remaining MLS clubs in the competition have a more than decent chance of setting up an all-North American final. The New York Red Bulls are 1-0 down to Mexican side, Chivas, after the first-leg but will pulling out the stops in front of their own fans – and probably a ton of visitors, too. “We’re going to find a way to take care of this series,” promised Coach Jesse Marsch.

Toronto FC have quite the task in Mexico, which is why the club travelled south and then south again of the border last Thursday to acclimatize. Despite holding a hefty 3-1 advantage over Club America, the MLS champions are in the Estadio Azteca with emotions raw from the first-leg which saw a huge tunnel scuffle between the players and accusations from the Mexican coach, Miguel Herrera, that the Toronto police had assaulted his players.

Our Phil Schoen will be predicting the outcome on a huge night for MLS on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

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