Ibrahima Konate made Liverpool fans hold their breath for a moment in the first leg of the Champions League clash with PSG — although having said that, I more or less forgot to breathe throughout the 90 minutes, save for the huge release when Harvey Elliott scored. The defender has since had his say on the incident.
It came in the first half at the Parc des Princes, with Bradley Barcola bearing down on Alisson’s goal. At that stage, PSG had not worked out it was pointless trying to beat the Liverpool stopper, who put in the performance of his life.
In this instance, Barcola was unable to get a shot away, having been leaned on by Konate. With Virgil van Dijk out of the equation, the Liverpool defender was the last man.
A tense VAR check for a red card ensued. But the incident was ultimately cleared, allowing Liverpool to carry on with 11 players on the pitch.
This was undoubtedly a turning point. Liverpool defended manfully with a full complement, but things could well have got ugly a man light, even accounting for the brilliance of Alisson.
Yet despite all the uproar, it was probably just about the correct decision. Arne Slot would no doubt have wanted it if the incident was reversed, but once the referee waved it away, a VAR intervention would have been controversial.
After all, this was a mismatch in size as much as anything else. Konate said as much after the game:
“There was a VAR check,” Konate told Canal Plus. “If there was a push, like you said, I would have been shown a red card.
“I’m telling you that there wasn’t a foul. It’s true that I am very strong but I don’t apply power, I just put my arm.
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“If I had put a lot more power into it then we could talk about it. But it was soft from me.”
But that was not the end of the matter. Foot Mercato now cites a claim from Le Parisien that Konate has been striking a different tune in private.
Supposedly, the Liverpool defender has admitted to friends that he should have received a red card for the challenge. As well as affecting the first leg, that would have seen Konate miss out at Anfield today.
To be frank, it seems doubtful that Konate has made any such admissions. But there were certainly plenty of people calling for a sending-off, not least PSG sporting director Luis Campos, who could be heard in the tunnel at half-time demanding that a red card or penalty should have been awarded.
Brilliantly, Virgil van Dijk replied with “Come on, this is not Ligue 1 brother.” But Liverpool will hope to avoid any such scares in the second leg, where another massive performance will be needed from all 11 players to secure safe passage to the quarter-finals.
