PARC DES PRINCES, PARIS // Liverpool hit PSG with a late sucker punch to secure a 1-0 smash-and-grab victory in the French capital, with Harvey Elliott scoring a late winner.
It was only because of the brilliance of Alisson Becker that Arne Slot’s men escaped without a heavy defeat. PSG started well and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia looked to have put the French side in front, only to be called back for being millimeters offside after a VAR check.
PSG kept on pushing, though, and Alisson was incredibly busy; he put on a masterclass in shot-stopping. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
Alisson Becker is the best in the world
This was, quite simply, a masterclass in goalkeeping. Some saves, Alisson made look easy with his positioning, but his handling was excellent. Others, he pulled straight out of the top drawer, stretching to prevent the ball from heading into the top corner.
PSG amassed around two expected goals and was relentless in its pursuit of the opening goal. Every single time, though, Alisson flung himself at it. Every single action that he was required to execute was perfection.
(Image: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Wide players crucial… and not least Harvey Elliott
With top-class, electric wide players on both sides — Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah, Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola — this was always a game likely to be decided down the flanks. Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes have all had moments this season where they can be got at defensively.
It was, however, the PSG players who came out on top in that battle. Liverpool was kept under pressure because Kvaratskhelia, Barcola and Ousmane Dembele were in sensational form, and Salah, Diaz and Diogo Jota couldn’t hold the ball up. Wave after wave of PSG attacks kept on coming.
Salah was so ineffective that Arne Slot even made the bold move to take him off and replace him with Elliott. It hasn’t happened often this season, but it proved to be a masterstroke. Forty-seven seconds after he came on, Elliott netted an unlikely winner.
PSG sensational until the final touch
“It feels like it goes up a level now,” Virgil van Dijk told reporters ahead of the game. “We are in the knockout stages now and there is no room for errors or bad games.”
With a full week to prepare for this first leg — and with a healthy lead in the Premier League offering some wriggle room to focus on Europe — Liverpool should have been refreshed. In fact, this was the first time since AUGUST that Liverpool has had a week between games (aside from when its players have been coming back from international duty).
It wasn’t so much that Liverpool was atrocious — though several players could have done better — but this was the hardest game Slot’s side has faced all season. By some distance, the Ligue 1 leader was a brilliant opponent: intense, pacy, and filled with brilliant individuals too. Only Alisson stopped the scoreline from reflecting that.
Gone is the PSG of old, with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. This new-look side that Luis Enrique has molded is much more of a team — and is much more willing to run itself into the ground to get a result. Kvaratskhelia, in particular, was sensational at times; Andy Robertson couldn’t get near either him or Dembele.
It sets up what should be a superb second leg. PSG, though, will be kicking itself that having been so good, it couldn’t force the ball over the line.
Cody Gakpo missed
Cody Gakpo was absent with a minor knock, which gave Jota another chance to come into the team from the start. As mentioned, though, it didn’t really work in terms of holding the ball up.
This was the sixth time that Slot has named this starting XI since he arrived at Liverpool. While it would be silly to suggest that his team has not suffered from injuries at all (which, even if it was true, would not be completely by chance), it does show the stability — especially in comparison to the previous regime.
Slot has now named the exact same starting XI more often than Jurgen Klopp did in all of his 491 games in charge of the club. Only the injured Gakpo could stake a real claim for being in his best team, and on this evidence, he would have a strong case.
(Image: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Countdown to Anfield
While it was not much of a reward for Liverpool to be playing PSG after topping the group phase, it does at least have the second leg at Anfield. That, obviously alongside Elliott’s goal, could be a decisive factor in who goes through in the tie.
PSG needed to make the most of the home leg but Alisson stopped that from happening. In six days’ time, it could be a very different game, though the Ligue 1 outfit has put down a marker in terms of what it can produce to some extent.
Liverpool would have been pleased enough to escape with a draw here, but a win puts it in a great position. If it is to go through next midweek, however, it will know now what it needs to do: for a start, keep hold of possession considerably better. It should be a cracker.
