Liverpool must respect Paris Saint-Germain's fearsome front three, says Jurgen Klopp

Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar – the most expensively-assembled front three in world football – scored a combined total of 77 goals in Ligue 1 and the Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain last term.

That remarkable figure was only surpassed by one other attacking trio in Europe – Liverpool’s. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino amassed a total of 87 goals in their own league and continental exploits.

Despite falling short in the final against Real Madrid, Jürgen Klopp’s side ended last season’s European campaign with 47 goals – more than any other side in a single Champions League season.

It could easily be argued that, when these two sides begin new European campaigns at Anfield on Tuesday, it will be a meeting of the continent’s two best attacks.

“Do I have to compare them?”, Klopp asked, when this observation was inevitably made.

“They are good, really good,” he said of PSG’s frontline. “Not only for Paris. Kylian Mbappé, come on, what a World Cup he played. And Neymar, we all know about his quality. [Angel] Di Maria, maybe he didn’t have the best time at Man United but all the rest of his career was outstanding. Cavani...

“I don’t want to compare it,” he admitted. “In the preparation, I have to make sure that we know about it. I know we are quite good, and respecting them without getting afraid of them – but respecting them we have to.”

In seasons past, particularly during the early part of Klopp’s tenure, Liverpool may have approached this opening group game as a straight shoot-out, hoping pure firepower would be enough to edge past their visitors.

The long-standing defensive problems that plagued this team finally appear to be subsiding, though. Just two goals have been conceded at Anfield since March. Even those were late, consolation strikes for Roma in a 5-2 semi-final first-leg win that all but assured Liverpool of progression.

Klopp agreed that Cavani, Mbappé and Neymar will test Liverpool’s much-improved “defending” – not just their “defence”, he pointed out. He also stressed the importance of preventing what he repeatedly called the “easy pass”. “Avoid that and you have a chance,” he said. “Don’t avoid that, you have no chance.

“If you let them pass in specific areas, they decide alone if they score or not. So it’s not that you can avoid it any more. You must then make an outstanding goalkeeper save or whatever, because of the speed, because of the mix of speed and technical abilities.”

On their way to the Kiev final, Liverpool proved they can defend resolutely, control the flow of games and ultimately compete at this rarefied level. “We have to show it again – that’s our life,” Klopp said, and he believes the experience of reaching last year’s final can only help.

“It is a nice experience, it is a nice memory. I’m pretty sure it will help us in the moment, all that stuff, but at the end we have to start new – using the experience but not relying on it. The best way, when you are experienced, is you use your new knowledge and start again – like a virgin, if you want.”

The disappointment of defeat has not adversely affected the club, either. “No damage. No. Absolutely not,” Klopp insisted. “I think we got a lot of respect because of the way we played last season and I think everyone who saw the final saw that we could have won it against a side in a completely different moment.

“People in football saw that. They see the games we played. They saw City, they saw Rome, they saw Porto. They saw so many games which we played in a really good way. There was a lot of respect. That is not too important for me but it is important for the club and the players.

“The players we spoke to in the summer or a little earlier, they were different talks to those I had the previous year or before. In the moment, it is a different club to the club I joined when I came in. But that was necessary.”

As Liverpool embark on another European campaign, the sense is that defeat in Kiev was a beginning, not an end. “We are in the place where we want to be without being satisfied with anything,” Klopp said.

“We are a challenger and we are a challenger again for pretty much everything, especially in each game. I don’t think there is any game in the world where you would say beforehand: ‘No chance Liverpool,’ which is good. That doesn’t mean we will win. But that means it is clear that we have a chance if we play our best. That is exactly what we try.”