PSG 2 Liverpool 0
One way traffic at the Parc des Princes for PSG. This must have been like playing against a lower league side in Ligue 1 for PSG as Liverpool parked the bus in France for 90 minutes without laying a glove on the Parisians who could have easily scored 3 or 4 goals if they were more ruthless in front of goal. Desire Doue opened the scoring in the 11th minute as his deflected effort looped over Mamardashvili to give PSG the lead on the night, from then PSG pushed and probed creating a few chances which Ousmane Dembele probably should have taken but Liverpool were probably happy enough going into half-time just one goal down. The second half was much of the same and PSG eventually got their second as Joao Neves played Kvarastkhelia down the line with the Georgian feinting past the Liverpool goalkeeper and calmly slotting into the net to double PSG’s lead in the 65th minute, how PSG didn’t at least get a third goal I’ll never know as Nuno Mendes and Dembele both missed sitters along with Konate somehow not giving away a penalty for a blatant push in the back on Nuno Mendes at the end of the game. It’s all to do for Liverpool next week who aim to at least land a shot on target at Anfield against the European champions.
Such a solid performance from PSG on the night. Although the Parisians could have scored more I’m sure Luis Enrique will be happy with just how dominant his team were tonight limiting Liverpool to just 3 shots and 0.18xG along with having 74% possession which indicates just strong PSG were tonight against a team which has looked good in the Champions League so far this season. The lack of an out and out striker caused Liverpool problems all night as everyone took turns playing up front even Hakimi at times which shows the fluidity of the team which we’ve seen plenty of from this PSG side, they’ll go to Anfield next week knowing that they’ll be facing a far better Liverpool team than they faced tonight but also knowing that if they score the first goal the ties all but finished at 3-0 in my opinion.
What a pathetic performance from Liverpool. After getting hammered against Man City at the Etihad on Saturday I’m not overly surprised Arne Slot went to a back 5 in this game against such a strong PSG team but Liverpool were absolutely terrible tonight, the lack of threat going forward was crazy considering Chelsea came here in the last round and looked really good before Jorgensen threw the game away and they collapsed but you could see the fragilities in the PSG backline that could be exploited. The midfield pivot of Gravenberch-Mac Allister was awful but they were outnumbered every time in there against the three of PSG which meant that as soon as Liverpool went to counter they lost the ball because of the lack of out ball in the midfield, Ekitike and Wirtz are Liverpool’s best players going forward but could get nowhere near hurting PSG as Liverpool never really looked like attacking throughout the match. Jeremie Frimpong was horrific which was surprising considering he was actually playing in his natural position as a wing-back but really lacked going forward with some of the worst crosses you’ll ever see, overall the score line doesn’t look too bad for Liverpool but they looked a million miles away from this PSG team tonight, they’ll have to be so much better next week if they want any chance of going through.
Kvicha Kvarastkhelia a cut above yet again. Just when it looked like PSG might be running out of ideas midway through that second half it took some brilliant composure from the Georgian to give PSG a two-goal lead heading to Anfield next week, it was even more important to get that second goal considering the oddly poor display from Ousmane Dembele on the night who should have had at least two goals with the chances he had. With how defensive Liverpool set up it was tough at times for PSG’s attackers to get any room at all with the ball one on one with a defender but it took a brilliant run in behind from Kvara to open Liverpool up after a brilliant though ball by Joao Neves to send the Georgian through who took his time to round the Liverpool keeper and slot home giving PSG a two-goal advantage heading to Anfield next week.
Can Liverpool get back into it next week? If your basing it on tonight’s performance there’s no chance that Liverpool get back into the tie next week but we all know that it’ll be a completely different game at Anfield next week, saying that Liverpool can’t just turn up and expect a comeback just because they are playing at home. They’ll need to be much much better going forward and Slot will have to ditch the 5 at the back if they want any hope of making it through into the next round, PSG will be confident to get the job done especially after beating Liverpool at Anfield last year albeit on penalties at the end. Liverpool will be keen not to see a repeat of the thumping Chelsea got at home in the last round with PSG ending the tie in the first 10 minutes, can Liverpool pull off the comeback next week at Anfield or will PSG finish the job? We’ll find out next Tuesday.