8 hours ago
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Liverpool are alive and well in the Champions League when they should have been buried in Paris. Arne Slot’s team did not simply secure a precious first-leg lead against Paris Saint-Germain, they committed grand larceny on a night that belonged to Alisson.
Harvey Elliott grabbed a late winner entirely against the run of play and within a minute of replacing Mohamed Salah. Fittingly, Liverpool’s goal was constructed by their goalkeeper. Alisson was unbeatable all night, driving PSG to despair with a string of superb saves, although Luis Enrique’s side also squandered plenty of chances of their own accord. A goalless draw would have been a fine outcome for Liverpool in the circumstances but they emerged victorious when Alisson launched a clearance in the 87th minute.
Darwin Núñez did superbly to win the ball and find Elliott in space on the right of the penalty area and the substitute swept a clinical finish beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Parc des Princes provided a spectacular backdrop to the meeting of the free-scoring French champions and runaway Premier League leaders. The home crowd were in fine voice long before the teams entered a cauldron of noise and pyrotechnics. After the fire came the fury for PSG of two big calls going against them in the first half, laced with widespread disbelief at the absence of a comprehensive lead. Alisson, semi-automated VAR and PSG profligacy were the main reasons why.
Liverpool were dominated for almost all the opening period as Luis Enrique’s team dictated play and stretched the visiting defence time and again. Slot had predicted PSG’s front three of Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia would pose a similar test to Manchester City with their speed and movement. Unlike the recent win at the Etihad Stadium, however, his team floundered in its collective attempts to contain them.
Nor did Liverpool combine containment with a cutting edge of their own. Gianluigi Donnarumma was a virtual spectator in the PSG goal throughout a first half in which Liverpool had no attempts on target. His opposite number was overworked by comparison but, fortunately for Liverpool, enjoying a productive shift.
PSG went man-to-man in midfield with Vitinha sitting deep on Dominik Szoboszlai, Fabián Ruiz denying Ryan Gravenberch space to break the lines and João Neves stifling Alexis Mac Allister’s influence. They spent more time toying with Liverpool in possession.
Barcola was gifted two early opportunities to run at the Liverpool defence but failed to find a decisive touch on both occasions. Ruiz dragged a shot wide from 18 yards and Neves should have opened the scoring when Dembélé turned on the after-burners to leave Andy Robertson and Mac Allister in his rearview mirror. The revitalised forward picked out the unmarked Neves from the byline but the midfielder scuffed his shot into the ground and over.
Another brilliant run from Dembélé resulted in a corner when his shot looped off Virgil van Dijk and over Alisson. The Liverpool keeper clawed away the set piece only for Neves to pick out Kvaratskhelia on the right of the penalty area. Gravenberch gave the Georgia international a yard of space to pick his spot and the January signing from Napoli curled an exquisite finish inside Alisson’s far corner. It was a fabulous finish, but disallowed for a tight offside against the goalscorer’s calf.
The PSG crowd were incensed, and their sense of grievance deepened when Barcola was nudged over by Ibrahima Konaté as he ran through on to Willian Pacho’s long ball out of defence. Contact occurred outside the area but VAR checked a possible red card offence by the defender. It eventually stuck with the on-field referee’s decision not to penalise Liverpool’s last man.
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The let-offs did not spark a reaction from Liverpool. The visitors remained encamped on the back foot, struggling to match PSG’s sharpness on the ball or energy off it and were indebted to Alisson for keeping the score somehow level at the interval with two excellent saves. Liverpool’s No 1 denied Dembélé with an outstretched foot when he was played through by Barcola’s cute ball. He then made a superb reaction save, adjusting his feet and getting down low to his left to tip away a Kvaratskhelia effort that was destined for the bottom corner.
Slot’s half-time instructions did little to turn the tide either. Waves of PSG attacks kept on coming. Alisson kept repelling them, the Brazil international making another vital intervention when the mesmerising Kvaratskhelia swept a free-kick from 25 yards towards the far corner. Szoboszlai prevented a Dembélé corner curling inside Liverpool’s near post and Achraf Hakimi fired over as PSG applied unrelenting pressure. Mohamed Salah was barely in the game as an attacking presence. The hosts’ dominance was mainly responsible for that but, on the rare occasions Salah did gain possession in the final third, he was stifled by the hugely impressive Nuno Mendes.
Van Dijk was booked for time-wasting at a goal-kick – though he could have been simply catching his breath – and substitute Núñez got an earful from Donnarumma when catching the keeper in the face with his knee. The PSG keeper suffered a horrible facial injury against Monaco in December but was fine on this occasion fortunately, and accepted Núñez’s apology.
But it was all about Alisson. Liverpool managed to restrict PSG to shots from distance in the closing stages but Desire Doué almost punctured their resistance when cutting in from the left.
The substitute’s strike arced towards the far corner only for the Brazilian to brilliantly thwart PSG with his finger-tips yet again. He also scooped away a Dembélé attempt before producing the final act for Elliott’s winner.
