It was a less than a month ago that Elliot Daly ran in a last-minute try to hand England a 26-25 Six Nations victory against France and register one of the sporting highlights of the year so far.
The cross-Channel rivalry is renewed this week with the Champions League shoot-out between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, both 13 points clear at the top of their domestic leagues and strolling to their respective titles, and the sheer intensity experienced at Twickenham could easily be matched by last-gasp heroics which are equally mind blowing.
The round-of-16 encounter kicks-off at the Parc des Princes before switching to Anfield for the second leg.
Arne Slot’s Reds topped the new Champions League group format while PSG faltered during the early stages before finishing strongly with a 3-0 win at RB Salzburg, a 4-2 success in the French capital after trailing to Manchester City and a win-or-bust victory at Stuttgart to clinch a place in the play-offs where Brest were demolished 10-0 on aggregate.
Everyone knows Liverpool are a force going forward with Mohamed Salah still at the peak of his powers but PSG are scoring goals for fun and look even more potent than when Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe prowled in attack.
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The flaw with those absolute legends was that, while they were brilliant on the ball, the lack of work without it was exposed at the highest level and is a major reason why PSG failed to transfer domestic dominance to Champions League triumph.
These days, however, a hungry crop of younger stars like Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele assembled by coach Luis Enrique puts in substantial shifts to ensure success and they are fresh from an impressive 4-1 win against fellow Champions League hopefuls Lille at the weekend.
PSG must have winced when they were paired with Liverpool, though, and while they will be encouraged by a few cracks which have appeared in their rivals’ armour in recent weeks, the poor Parisians will have to wait until next season to fulfil the promise of their new generation.
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The Reds can return to Merseyside with a draw which will set up qualification at 14/5 with William Hill and Bet Victor while Salah, who has 12 goals and eight assists in Champions League knockout matches, is 11/2 with bet365, Paddy Power and Betfair to fire his side in front and 13/8 with the former firm to score at any time.
Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a winter signing from Napoli, is 11/4 with Sky Bet to reply for the hosts.
• Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan can all win the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 matches and combine for a nice treble.
• While all eyes are on golf’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, England’s Matt Wallace can thrive at the Puerto Rico Open and pay handsome dividends when backed at 28/1 in bet365’s each-way market which pays out on ten places.
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