Alisson turned in a one-man show in Paris
Alisson turned in a one-man show in Paris
Liverpool will go into next week's second leg of this Champions League tie as favourites to progress to the quarter-finals, but because of barely anyone wearing red.
Prior to Harvey Elliott's scarcely believable late winner, Paris Saint-Germain absolutely dominated from start to finish in the French capital, and while a deeply below-par Reds rode their luck at times, it was the display of goalkeeper Alisson which did the most to ensure that the visitors weren't blasted out of sight.
Try as they might, and whatever it was they threw at Liverpool, the man in yellow was there to see it away.
This was one of the all-time great Liverpool goalkeeping performances, and how the outfield players needed it.
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But one player who probably won't welcome it is Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will have seen just what he will be up against when he eventually arrives at the club in the summer.
All indications are the Mamardashvili has designs on challenging for the No.1 shirt next season, with Caoimhin Kelleher expected to move on and take the starting spot he deserves elsewhere.
The Georgian hasn't been having the best of seasons at Valencia since his move was confirmed, although his dip in standards can largely be blamed on the team's underperformance rather anything he's done personally.
( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
There have been times this season when Alisson's form has been questioned too, and indeed it took the Brazilian a little while longer than it normally does to shake off the effect of the injury that sidelined him for most of October into December.
That, and the frequency of his injuries, have started to see more and more questions raised of the 32-year-old, but this is a world class performer who has dug Liverpool out of many a hole before, and few were potentially bigger than this one.
Alisson was a one man wall as those in front of him wilted. There were 27 shots at his goal, 10 on target, and he was never breached. Elliott had Liverpool's first shot on target in the 87th minute and Gianluigi Donnarumma let it in.
He's not at Alisson's level, and Mamardashvili isn't. On this evidence, no-one is. "The performance of my life," he said at full-time. Liverpool are lucky to have him.
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