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The PSG boss has given his reaction to the 1-0 loss against Liverpool in the Champions League last 16 first leg.
Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique lamented his side’s ‘unfair’ loss to Liverpool.
The Reds are in the driving seat of the Champions League last-16 tie after earning a 1-0 win in the first leg at the Parc des Princes. Arne Slot’s side were dominated throughout by a potent PSG attack and were very much indebted to their goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
But the French heavyweight’s profligacy in the final third was punished with three minutes remaining when Liverpool substitute Harvey Elliott scored to deliver a smash-and-grab triumph.
What’s been said
Enrique admitted that he found it ‘strange’ how PSG fell to defeat. The two sides will meet against in the return leg at Anfield on Tuesday and the former Spain boss has vowed that his troops will take the positives into that showdown.
Enrique said: “It’s very unfair. It was a very complete game from us, maybe our most complete game in the Champions League. In the first half, the expected goals were totally in our favour. They shot once and scored. Their best player was Alisson the goalkeeper. It’s a bit strange but I feel very proud of my team, the players and the fans. There was a wonderful atmosphere but football is sometimes unfair. You have to score. We’ll take it in a positive way and think about the return match in Liverpool.
"There's nothing to explain, we were much better than Liverpool. Much better! I repeat but their best player was the goalkeeper. We were really better than Liverpool but they won. If you want to see the negative, I don't see it. I'm very proud of my team and my players. There's a second match left in Liverpool, we're not going to give up."
Slot’s verdict
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot gave an honest assessment of the game and admitted that his troops were ‘lucky’ to return to Merseyside leading the last-16 tie. He said: I think if we had a draw over here we would have already been lucky, that’s clear for everyone. I think they were the much better team today, especially in the first half, they had a lot of open chances – three or four big, big, big chances. In the second half they were still the better team, still had a lot of shots on target, but they were mainly from outside the box. But I knew before the game, and I saw again today, how much quality this team has and these individual players have.
“So, all these shots from outside the box were with a certain speed that you only see with top players. We have them as well but you could see it with them as well [and] that’s why Alisson still had to make a lot of big saves. We were lucky in the first half that the goal [Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s disallowed effort] was fractionally offside… and in the end, we were already in the game three, four or five times. I felt like, ‘We can hurt them in transition,’ but we didn’t. But we waited until the last moment and then we hurt them.”
Related topics:Champions LeaguePSG
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