Without Alisson Becker, Liverpool might have lost heavily to PSG in the Champions League. But the Brazilian put in a sensational performance at the Parc des Princes, and then Harvey Elliott popped up with an unlikely winner.
Few people would have thought that was how the game would end given the balance of play and PSG boss Luis Enrique couldn’t understand how it happened. Midfielder Vitinha has already promised that the second leg will pan out differently.
But watching on from home, Alan Shearer has revealed that he actually saw the shock result coming once he realized how the first half was going. Sending a message to Gary Lineker, they were both in agreement.
“I text you after 20/25 minutes — I said Liverpool will have one chance and they will win this game. It is crazy how they won it,” Shearer said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Lineker responded: “We all said the same thing: if they can hang on until half-time somehow, they will probably end up winning the thing. The statistics just before they scored were astonishing.”
Liverpool only had two shots in the whole game compared to PSG’s 27. Alisson made a record nine saves and put in a world-class performance where everything he did was perfection.
Things could have gone differently, however. Ibrahima Konate, playing in the city in which he was born, could easily have been sent off during the first half when he brought down Bradley Barcola. The referee decided not to blow up for a foul and the VAR didn’t intervene.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I think it was [a red card],” Lineker said. “I think it was one of those that if the referee had given it, they would have definitely stuck with the decision on the pitch.
“I suspect they were sitting there and were like ‘it’s a foul, but is it enough of a foul’. I think it was enough for a penalty; I think we all did. It brings me back to this point, this will never be sorted out under this thing on whether the bar is low or high.”
Liverpool.com says: The Reds got away with one to an extent against PSG but that is also the reason that you identify and bring in the best goalkeeper in the world. Alisson is absolutely in that category.
Before the end of the season, the Brazilian shot-stopper might be required to make some top saves in games. He won’t be as busy as that again, though — probably not for the rest of his career.
