Peter Schmeichel left Alisson Becker astonished shortly after his standout display for Liverpool against Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazilian goalkeeper played a pivotal role as the Reds secured an important 1-0 win over PSG at the Parc des Princes.
Although Harvey Elliott netted the sole goal of the game just before the final whistle, it was Alisson’s heroics that really lit up the night in Paris. The shot-stopper, aged 32, pulled off several crucial saves throughout the match to deny Luis Enrique’s team any hopes of scoring.
In what must have been a surreal moment post-match, Alisson found himself in front of Schmeichel for an interview inside the tunnel of the Parc des Princes. The Liverpool number one didn’t realize quite how many saves he had made.
Schmeichel highlighted an impressive statistic to Alisson: “I just want to start with a stat… You made nine saves,” he announced on CBS Sports. “You stopped nine goals. No Liverpool goalkeeper has ever made nine saves in a game like this. How do you feel about that?”.
Alisson’s response highlighted his modesty and focus on teamwork: “That’s some stat. To be honest, stats are really good to show a part of the game. But what’s more is the actions, having to be on your toes to help the team.
“Sometimes, when a team has so many chances, it looks like you are working badly defensively, but the biggest amount of the chances they had, we always had a player on the ball, trying to block the shot. That makes the goalkeeper’s job a little bit easier.”
(Image: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot then summed up the sentiment regarding Alisson’s form by saying, “We’re the lucky ones, that’s clear for everyone. I think they were the much better team today, especially in the first half (when they had) three or four big, big chances.
“In the second half, they were still the better team, still had a lot of shots on target, but they were mainly from outside the box. That’s why Alisson still had to make a lot of big saves.
“I have had some very good players as a manager but never the best goalkeeper in the world until now. He showed that he is the best in the world today. To go away with a win here was probably a bit more than we deserved.”
Liverpool.com says: Alisson was simply sensational. Nothing about his game was anything short of perfection and if Liverpool goes through to the quarter-finals, it will have the Brazilian to thank in large part.
