Despite being thoroughly outplayed by Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their Champions League encounter in the last-16 round, Liverpool walked away from the French capital with a narrow advantage to take back into the rematch.
The only goal of the game was the work of visitors’ substitute Harvey Elliott in the 87th minute, just over 40 seconds after his introduction for Mohamed Salah on the right flank.
Teams
PSG head coach Luis Enrique had a rare luxury of a fully fit squad for this game.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was in goal, with Marquinhos and Willian Pacho as the centre-backs, flanked by Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes. Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz were in the middle of the park, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola formed a highly explosive attacking line.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot, on the other hand, did have a few injury worries to work around. Most notably, Cody Gakpo was unavailable – the Dutch forward traveled with the squad awaiting a late assessment, but he was obviously deemed not fit enough. Defenders Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley, as well as midfielder Tyler Morton, also missed out, as did 18-year-old Amara Nallo, who was sent off quickly after entering the pitch in the final round of the group stage against PSV Eindhoven.
With Allison Becker between the posts, the back line consisted of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as the centre-backs, and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson on the defensive flanks. Ryan Gravenberch paired up with Alexis Mac Allister paired up in midfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai more advanced. Up front was the trio of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz.
Game recap
It was a very one-sided contest in the first half. Liverpool have been known to relinquish possession and hurt their opponents through transition, but this time, they were utterly outplayed from the start, unable to keep hold of the ball even for a short spell in order to launch a counterattack.
PSG were simply dominant in every aspect and had a number of glorious chances to take the lead. Kvaratskhelia did score, but the goal was ruled out for offside. He also had a fine low shot saved brilliantly by Alisson, Liverpool’s hero. The Brazilian goalkeeper did splendidly to deny Barcola as well, and there was a number of inexplicable misses from the home side as well.
Enrique’s men won almost every duel in the middle of the park, and they repeatedly tormented Alexander-Arnold (who actually played well defensively) and Robertson on the flanks. Barcola, Dembele and Kvaratskhelia were obviously the players tasked with that, with notable support from Hakimi and Mendes out wide, while Vitinha, Ruiz and Neves recycled possession with impeccable precision, frequently in Liverpool’s half already.
And yet, there were no goals at either end at the break.
The visitors entered the second half with a bit more resilience and finally started looking like they could score in this match, if only through quick transition – something they certainly know how to do. However, Salah, Jota and Diaz still couldn’t produce anything worthy of note for a long time, and PSG gradually re-established full domination.
The home side ended the contest with a total of 27 shots – 10 on target, eight wide and nine blocked. But their energy turned slowly to frustration towards the very end, and Slot’s substitutions eventually made all the difference. Liverpool fired just once on target, but it was enough as Darwin Nunez received the ball in the opposition half, held on to it under pressure and released Elliott, who had replaced Salah less than a minute earlier. Elliott took aim and hit the far bottom corner, beating Donnarumma in the PSG goal with his first touch.
It’s far from over
Liverpool will be over the moon with the fact that they’re taking a lead back to Anfield and into the rematch next week, but they will also be aware that luck played its part in Paris and won’t want their backs against the wall again, not in front of their own supporters. On the other hand, PSG will be aware of their ability to outplay the Premier League leaders and work on their finishing, hoping to finally get something past Alisson.
There is obviously much to do for both teams, and the arrival of Luis Enrique’s team to Merseyside will be anxiously awaited by the neutrals, almost as much as the passionate fans of the two clubs.
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