A theme of the Beatles traveled the pages of the French daily newspaper of the sports newspaper L’Equipe on Wednesday in honor of the visit of Liverpool. One of the big titles has doubled as a plea to the young dynamic PSG team assembled by Luis Enrique.
It was a plea on this side, which finally started playing as a team rather than a collection of spoiled and over-indulgated galacticos, so as not to be exaggerated by the leaders of the Premier League of Arne Slot. “Hey guys”, read the title, “Don’t be afraid.
And PSG was not afraid. They embarked on this match with total abandonment. They torn Liverpool in a wave after a wave of blue fury. They supported them fiercely. Over occasion, the brilliance of Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have exposed their defense.
Liverpool may have experienced clumsy episodes this season – fury at the end of the last Merseyside de Goodison derby and the defeat of the FA Cup in Plymouth come to mind – but they had not endured anything.
And yet, they survived everything that young guys could throw them. It was mainly because of the series of the goalkeeper of Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson, who made a series of superb stops to prevent the efforts of Dembele and Bradley Barcola.
And then three minutes from the end of a match in which Liverpool had been beaten and beaten and run in tatters, the ball was exposed to replace Harvey Elliott to the right of the PSG and Gianluigi Donnarumma box could only make a weak hand and he was torlled in the net and Liverpool had won.
Harvey Elliott scored a winner of the 87th minute while Liverpool won an incredible victory
The substitute marked by its first touch after 47 seconds to be on the drop in PSG
PSG had dominated the match and had seen a prohibited goal, but Alisson kept the Reds in it
PSG had the right to think that the night had been brutally cruel to them. But if their nerve failed them anywhere, it was in their finish. Notwithstanding the brightness of Alisson, they were likely that they should have converted, but when the great moments came, they moved away in one way or another.
Liverpool did not do it. They had a chance and they took it. This is the team they have become. A brilliant team and an opportunistic team. A waiting team. A team that is committed. A team that is ready when it should be.
Liverpool also made a chance. They were lucky that Ibrahima Konate was not sent for a first half on Barcola and that sometimes it was, when Alisson’s stops pushed the ball into play, that he would simply not fall for them.
But they survived. And they will go out in Anfield next Tuesday with an advance of a goal, knowing that they escaped last night, knowing that they were distinctly the best against an exceptional team and that they can now be confident to progress towards a quarter -finals which is probably against Aston Villa
There seemed to be fewer fans of Liverpool in the French capital than usual before a match of this importance, but, given their experiences the last time that the club has played here, it may not be a surprise.
Football flirted dangerously with another crowd tragedy before the 2022 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France when incompetent French police services led to dangerous fans in a bottle of the stadium and outside the Nurciles.
Some fans have chosen not to travel, but those who have done so spared the trip to the Stade de France, which seems to have become a problem for the control of crowds. The entry into the Parc des Princes has, at least, seems to be better organized.
There was, however, no ambiguity on the attitude towards the game in Paris. In addition to asking the young PSG team to be courageous, the team has transformed its first page into a pastiche of the coverage of the Lonely Hearts Club group of the SGT.Pepper.
Alisson succeeded in nine stops while PSG submits to the men of Arne Slot to an intense evening
Liverpool asked him to thank that they had not fallen for several late goals when they struggled
Kvaratskhelia had a goal excluded in the first half because he was offside by a mustache
Many thought that Ibrahima Konate had the chance to escape a red card for a challenge on Bradley Barcola
Liverpool could barely believe their luck after surviving the most difficult match of their season
PSG had done everything in their power to overwhelm Liverpool but had not found the net
Instead of the Beatles panel at the bottom of the image, the slogan read the battle. And in the center of the image, the four fabulous of the Team were Marquinhos, the attacker Ousmane Dembele, Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah.
Of these four, Dembele was the first to have an impact. The opening steps were Cagey. The only problems encountered by Liverpool were problems they were asking when Van Dijk and Luis Diaz gave possession.
But then, after a quarter of an hour, Dembele slipped the ball in front of Andy Robertson on the Liverpool on the left and then jumped Alexis Mac Allister. Dembele presented the ball to Joao Neves but he hit his shot in the ground and bounced on the bar.
Liverpool was another escape a few minutes later. When they failed to clean up a corner, it was played in Kvaratskhelia and he completed his shot around Ryan Gravenberch and after Alisson. The princes’ park broke out. The reruns have shown that KVaratskhelia had moved out of games in accumulation.
The stadium was in tumult. The PSG wanted a red card when Ibrahima Konate pushed Bradley Barcola while he ran for the goal. Var decided against this and the crescendo of Boos was deafening. Liverpool pushed his luck on the limit.
Then they pushed it a little more. Barcola played Dembele, who has managed 25 goals in all competitions in this match, including five in his last two games in the Champions League, Clean Through Out Over Bust, but Alisson blocked his shot with his legs.
The ball has rebounded in Barcola and when Dominik Szoboszlai threw himself in front of his first shot, Barcola again had the goal of his mercy. This time he raised it on the bar.
Liverpool had not been cut like that all season. Alisson had to go down suddenly to keep another kvaratskhelia blow with his right hand and Liverpool was grateful for the whistle at half-time.
Arne Slot’s decision to send to Harvey Elliott was bold but paid in large fashion
Liverpool has tasted the dangers that Paris Saint-Germain can bring to Anfield
The niche has resisted the temptation to make changes at half-time, although the temptation had to be strong. The normal service quickly resumed. Alisson has started fully length to produce a brilliant backup with one hand to prevent a free kick from KVaratskhelia.
Then Liverpool survived a series of three vicious Inswings of Dembele. Szoboszlai kicked one of the lines as it threatened to bend in the net at the nearby post. PSG was relentless. The pressure came in wave after the wave, but they still couldn’t unravel.
And then, late in the match, Slot brought Elliott. And before he even touched the ball, Darwin Nunez crossed and threw the ball in his way and Elliott did the rest. And the guys, who were not afraid, suspended the head of despair.