PARIS: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool defend first-leg leads in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday with both teams playing away against Manchester City and FC Porto respectively.

After winning the first leg 1-0 last week, Tottenham travel to fellow English rivals City looking to reach the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time.

Spurs are without the injured Harry Kane, but have still managed to achieve good results whenever their talismanic striker has been out in recent seasons but goalkeeper Hugo Lloris knows his side face a challenge.

“It is the type of game all players want to play in,” he said. “‘It is going to be about details — the same as the first leg. We need experience, nerve and spirit. The spirit has been fantastic the last few weeks but you can never feel comfortable. You always need to push your limits.”

City have an underwhelming record in the Champions League. One appearance in the semi-finals is a poor return considering the huge investment from the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership since 2008, and City are desperate to get through.

Chasing an unprecedented quadruple of season trophies, City missed an early penalty saved before conceding Son Hueng Min’s late winner in the first leg.

“The result is not the best but if you want to go through in the last stage you have to make these kind of comebacks,” manager Pep Guadiola said afterwards. “Sometimes 1-0 is better than 0-0, as you know exactly what you have to do. We have to go out to score goals.”

Without an away goal from the first leg, City will be in trouble should Tottenham score in the second leg at Etihad Stadium.

With Guardiola’s side going toe-to-toe with Liverpool in the title race they are aware of the perils one slip-up could have, so must-win games have become the norm in the last four months.

Guardiola was criticised for his tactics last week, leaving out the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane but he is unlikely to make the same mistake twice. Bernardo Silva’s return to fitness will help but Fernandinho remains a doubt after missing Sunday’s 3-1 win at Crystal Palace.

At home City will look to overwhelm Spurs early on so they can hold some in reserve for when the two teams meet again in the Premier League three days after.

Premier League leaders Liverpool head to Porto 2-0 up from Anfield but Juergen Klopp isn’t taking anything for granted.

“The game is still on, we have to go there, we have to fight,” the Liverpool manager said. “Porto will try everything to strike back — and that will be a really tough game again, but that’s how it should be in the quarter-finals.”

Mohamed Salah looks back to his best after brilliant goals in successive weeks in the Premier League against Southampton and then against Chelsea on Sunday but he might count himself fortunate to be playing the second leg against Porto.

Match officials missed Salah’s studs-first lunge on Danilo near the end of the first leg at Anfield, which could easily have resulted in a red card and suspension.

Instead, Liverpool have their front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane intact for the trip to Portugal. The last time the teams met in the Estadio do Dragao, Liverpool won 5-0 in the first leg of the round of 16, with that trio scoring all the goals.

But complacency is the one thing which could do for Klopp’s side as Porto showed enough potential threat at Anfield to suggest this will be far from comfortable.

Pepe and Hector Herrera return from suspension to strengthen the hosts and if Moussa Marega discovers the shooting boots he left at home last week it could be an uncomfortable night.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2019