Shortly after Liverpool’s stunning 1-0 ‘smash-and-grab’ win over PSG in the Champions League, goalkeeper Alisson Becker was asked if this was the best performance of the season. The Brazilian answered: “Probably of my life.”
These are no small words for a man who captured a pair of Premier League Golden Gloves and the 2019 Yashin Trophy. The veteran goalkeeper saved 10 PSG shots and managed to keep a clean sheet from a stunning 2.58 expected goals (xG).
What is xG? Expected goals are the statistical measure of how many goals a team should score based on the quality of shots they recorded.
Liverpool looked lifeless going forward, but a recently subbed-on Harvey Elliott slotted past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 87th minute to give the Reds a 1-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Arne Slot’s side only mustered 29% possession and two shots throughout the match (both season-long lows), producing a paltry 0.25 xG tally. Liverpool had just two shots in the game with only one on target. In sharp contrast, PSG had 27 shots with 10 on target.
The Liverpool defense faced threats from all over the field. PSG winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who famously tortured the Reds defense with Napoli in 2022 in the same competition, registered four shots on target and had a first-half goal narrowly ruled out.
Ousmane Dembele, a candidate for this year’s Ballon d’Or due to his sudden spike in goal scoring, logged six shots and completed five dribbles.
(Image: Getty Images)
Diminutive Portuguese midfielder Vitinha absolutely marshaled the game for PSG, completing a staggering 109 passes while winning six of his eight ground duels.
Still, none of them could get through Alisson and the plaudits poured in for the Brazilian No. 1 postgame. CBS’s Peter Schmeichel, interviewing Alisson post-match, said it was “one of the best goalkeeping performances I’ve seen in my life: and said Liverpool ” should have lost three-nil.”
Back in the studio, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher called it “the greatest goalkeeping display I’ve ever seen.” He added that Alisson would have saved Elliott’s low-corner shot.
Speaking with TNT postgame, Slot admitted: “I don’t think I’ve worked with a goalkeeper that has played at this level…which is normal because he’s the best in the world.”
“I’ve had some very good players as a manager but never the best goalkeeper in the world,” Slot continued. “He showed [he is] that today.”
Alisson looks primed to become the second goalkeeper in history to receive a prestigious “10” rating from French newspaper L’Equipe.
