Alisson Wonderhand

PSG dominated the first leg of the heavyweight Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was in inspired form,  making nine saves to help the visitors snatch an unlikely win as substitute Harvey Elliott scored in the 87th minute.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted his team had been extremely fortunate and he heaped praise on the Brazilian shotstopper. 

“I have had some very good players as a manager but never the best goalkeeper in the world until now. To go away with a win here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” said Slot.

The Dutchman displayed no hesitation in accepting his side were below-par.

“If we had drawn over here we would already been the lucky ones. They were the much better side,” said Slot.

The Parisians began the game with a point to prove, controlling the ball well while pinning Liverpool in their own half. They appeared to have got an early lead when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the 20th minute but was ruled to be offside.

They continued to generate loads of chances, but couldn’t find a way past Alisson. There was a VAR check for a possible red card when PSG attacker Bradley Barcola was knocked over by Ibrahima Konate on the edge of the area as he chased onto a long ball, but the Italian officials let the Liverpool defender off.

The PSG defence also managed to keep the deadly Mohamed Salah quiet with Slot forced to take him off in the 86th minute. However, the player who replaced him, Elliott, provided the Reds with their sole moment of glory less than a minute after coming on as he lashed a shot into the far corner after being teed up by Darwin Nunez via a long-ball played by Alisson.

PSG coach Luis Enrique regretted the fact that his side came away with nothing despite putting in one of their finest European displays in recent memory.
“We were far superior to Liverpool in terms of how we played, and chances created. Their best player was the goalkeeper, which indicates how the game went,” said Enrique.

When asked if he still believed his team could reach the quarter-finals going into next Tuesday’s return leg, he added: “Without any doubt. We are a team with absolutely nothing to lose.”

09
No. of saves Alisson made v PSG

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